Long way to fall
by LollipopPOP
Summary: Starting from episode 1.01 of the series, a gender swapped adventure. Focusing on Danielle Humphrey and Sebastian Van Der Woodsen
1. Chapter 1: Pilot

**Chapter One:** Pilot

Danielle and her younger brother Jeremy were weaving their way through the train station looking for their father who spotted them first, walking over to them.

"Hey dad" Jeremy greeted with a smile.

"Hey, you made it" their father greeted returning the smile. He pulled his son into a hug.

"Welcome back" he said releasing Jeremy and hugging his daughter "how was your weekend, how's you mom?"

"She's fine" Danielle assured him

"Good" Jeremy said

"Fine and good" Danielle nodded

"She's good and fine" Jeremy added. Their father nodded in understanding.

"As in I never should have left Manhattan fine or taking a break from my husband was the best thing I ever did fine?"

Ever since their mother decided she needed a break their father had been worrying about it. He was putting up a strong front for her children but it was obvious that he was not fine about this whole thing.

Jeremy and Danielle both looked at each awkwardly neither of them quite sure what to say.

"I'm starving" Danielle finally said opting to change the subject. Rufus smiled.

"Let's go home" he told them swinging his arm over Jeremy's shoulders "I'm cooking"

Danielle was following her father and brother out of the train station when she spotted him. It didn't feel real, the crowd parted and there he was just standing there. Like a mirage or hallucination.

Sebastian Van De Woodsen.

She had a crush on him for years. Sure he lived in a very exclusive world that would never accept her but there was something about Sebastian that made her think that somehow he would accept her. That they would work together.

….

"Blaine!" his mother called knocking on his bedroom door "Sebastian's here"

Blaine was more than content to ignore her but Natalie seemed to have a different idea. She pulled away from him, looking over his shoulder at the door.

"Sebastian?" he asked.

"Sebastian's at school" Blaine lied pressing a kiss to his girlfriend's neck in an attempt to distract her.

"No" Natalie argued scooting off the bed "didn't you hear your mom, Sebastian's here, don't you want to go say hi?"

No he really didn't. But apparently Nat really, really did so he gave in and reached for his suit jacket. By the time he'd put it on Natalie was already gone. Blaine later found Natalie staring across the room at Sebastian when she walked through a door between them. Both of their mothers were standing nearby Sebastian so Blaine put on a large fake smile and hugged him.

"Oh Sebastian" he gushed "come, we're about to have dinner"

"I'll set a place for you next to Blaine" his mother added.

"No, I'm sorry" Sebastian quickly said "I've got somewhere to be"

Blaine's smile faltered "you're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm not feeling well, I only just dropped in to say hi" he said "I'll see you at school tomorrow"

He made a quick exit weaving through the crowd, smiling at anyone who acknowledge him but didn't stop to talk. Blaine moved away from his father and over to his two friends who were leaning up against a wall surveying the crowd.

"School" he repeated "so I guess he's back for good"

"Didn't you know he was coming?" Kade asked. He assumed that Sebastian and Blaine were still as close as they were before Sebastian's sudden disappearance to boarding school. An easy mistake to considering half the time Blaine told people they were.

"Of course" he lied "I just wanted it to be a surprise"

….

The next day Sebastian woke up to her younger sister calling her name. He was curled up in the surprisingly comfortable arm chair next to Erica's bed a blanket draped over to him. He opened his eyes and sat up smiling at his sister.

"Hey" he smiled moving to sit on her bed "how are you?"

"You know, I've been better" Erica replied smiling in a way that Sebastian couldn't tell if it was real or fake.

"Erica" he started wrapping his arm around her "I know I've been a terrible big brother, I'm just so happy to see you"

He pulled her into a tight hug. He had missed her a lot and just seeing her made him feel better. Sure there'd be a lot of mess he'd have to deal with what with Blaine and Natalie and the countless rumour that were probably already spreading about him but it was worth it if he could help Erica at all.

…

Over in the Humphrey loft Jeremy was busy sealing the invitations for the Kiss on the Lips party that he'd worked hard making while his father finished serving breakfast, his famous waffles.

"Guess who's dad is cool" he grinned when Danielle walked into the kitchen and took a seat next to her brother.

"It's a trick question" Jeremy teased

"Because it certainly can't be ours" Danielle added.

"Ha ha" Rufus replied "look at this"

"Top ten forgotten bands of the nineties" Danielle read from the cover of the Rolling Stone's magazine her father had been holding.

"Look at number nine" her father instructed.

"Way to be forgotten" Danielle teased.

"Only way to be remembered" he argued with a smile

"Maybe you would care if dad's band was on gossip girl?" Jeremy asked. Sometimes Danielle really hated the fact that her brother knew her that well.

"What?" she asked stabbing her fork into a waffle "I don't read gossip girl"

"So that wasn't your laptop open to it last night reading all about Sebastian Van Der Woodsen?" Jeremy countered as he rifled through the box of invitations in front of him making sure they were all there. The whole family knew about Danielle's crush on Sebastian, it had long ago become a running joke especially with Jeremy.

Danielle went for her familiar tactic of changing the subject and picked up the magazine again.

"I'm going to read this" she lied "it's very cool, Lincoln Hawk number nine wow"

Rufus shook his head and turned to his youngest child.

"What are you working on?" he asked nodding at the box in front of him.

"They're invitations for the Kiss on the Lips party" he replied "everyone's going"

"You got invited to that?" Danielle questioned putting down the magazine she'd only been pretending to read "excuse me if I sound surprised since I've never been invited"

"One of the guys in my art class saw my calligraphy and told me if I addressed them all I could have one" Jeremy explained obviously quite proud of himself. He'd always been very creative.

"Well that sounds fair" their father noted "sweatshops could learn a thing or too"

"Dad" Jeremy groaned "this is no time for another one of your rants; you make us go to private school"

"For your education" he argued

"So you want us to be anonymous loser who eat lunch alone and never get invited to parties?" Jeremy asked.

"Works for me" Danielle cut in only to receive a glare from her brother

"Mom thinks it's a good idea" Jeremy said looking away from the both of them and back at his invitations.

"Cause her judgement is always sound"

Danielle shook her head. It was happening a lot lately, one of them would bring up mother their and their father would make a snarky comment. It was obvious that he was more hurt by their break then he let on.

Rufus looked to his daughter for her advice, but Danielle merely shrugged. It wasn't like she knew what to do about the whole party thing. She rarely got invited to them.

"Jeremy" their father started "if you want to go this party then you should"

Jeremy looked up and grinned at him obviously pleased.

"You kids deserve some fun"

…..

Danielle just barely caught the bus that morning. Her brother had left earlier to walk to school but she had to finish up on some homework so she wouldn't have to work on it at lunch and decided to catch the bus. She squeezed towards the back of the bus but only made it halfway ending up standing next to the seat Charlotte Bass and Natalie Archibald were occupying. She briefly wondered why they weren't being driven to school in chauffeured cars but didn't dwell on it for long, it wasn't worth it.

"Are you following us?" Charlotte asked when the three of them moved to get off the bus when it reached their stop. Even after going to school with her for years and being in several of her class Charlotte still thought she was some crazy stalker sometimes Danielle thought that it might be some strange power thing like they were trying to show that she wasn't even good enough to be remembered by them.

"Um, no, we go to the same school" she said "identical uniforms should be a big hint"

Charlotte merely turned up her noise and hurried to get off the bus.

…

The next time Danielle saw Sebastian Van Der Woodsen she was watching her younger brother try on coats for the Kiss on the Lips party that night. Jeremy had called it a 'fashion emergency', Danielle had never understood fashion but tired her best anyway.

Jeremy spotted Sebastian and a younger girl that Danielle would later know as Sebastian's sister Erica and called them over smiling happily. Danielle took this as an opportunity to get out of there. Sebastian was her dream guy and she'd built him up in her mind for years, it wasn't like she could just go over and say hey.

…

"He's really nice" Jeremy later informed him. He was bent over his sewing machine working on a replica of the coat he'd been trying on earlier. Jeremy had always been interested in looking his best but most of the clothes he wanted were worth more than their rent, so out came the sewing machine.

"You shouldn't have ran away"

"I didn't run away" Danielle argued "I merely left, you fashion emergency was solved so I figured I wasn't needed anymore"

"You ran away" Jeremy shot back "you finally got the chance to talk to him and you ran away like a little girl"

"Ok so what if I did, it's not like we're ever going to work anyway, we come from two different worlds"

"I hear him and his family are staying at the Palace hotel"

"My point exactly"

"Probably sitting all alone at the bar, it's quite sad actually" Jeremy continued as if he didn't hear her at all "oh dad's going to be at the gallery until later so he left us money for takeout, I was thinking Indian?"

"Umm...none for me" Danielle told him sliding off the couch she'd been lying on "I think I might go out"

Jeremy smirked as he watched her leave.

"God, because I already ordered and I only got enough for one"

….

She felt lost. She definitely didn't fit in with the crowd at the Palace Hotel bar; she didn't really fit in anywhere so it was no big surprise. But this was like a whole new level; she stuck out like a sore thumb.

There were plenty of blonde's sipping drinks that evening at the bar but none were the one she was looking for. She was about to give up when Sebastian Van Der Woodsen came barrelling into her from behind knocking the both of them to the ground.

"I'm sorry" he said quickly helping her to gather the things that had spilled out of her oversized pockets before quickly darting away leaving his own cell phone behind. She picked it up and held it in the air ready to call after him but he was already gone.

She stood there for a moment flipping the phone over and over in her hand wondering what to do with it when Charlotte Bass walked past her coming from the same direction Sebastian just had. Charlotte paused to glare at her for a second before continuing on her way.

…

She decided it was best to hand in the cell to the front desk. The woman manning it did not seem pleased to see her. She grilled her when she handed it over asking how she knew it was 'Mr Van Der Woodsen's' phone and if she wasn't a guest at the hotel what was she doing there?

It was just her luck that Sebastian happen to walk into the lobby at that moment and that the woman called her over. She practically begged that she didn't but she didn't appear to be listening. She briefly contemplated running like she had in the store but Sebastian had already seen her.

"Do you know this young woman?"

"He doesn't know me, nobody knows me, it's fine"

"From last night right?" Sebastian asked as he approached the desk "I'm sorry about that"

Danielle was amazed. So it all it took was for them to literally bump into each other to make a lasting impression?

"You remember me?" she asked in slight disbelief

Sebastian nodded and Danielle turned to the woman behind the desk smiling proudly and a little smug.

"He remembers me"

"Well she claims to have found your cell phone" she said holding it up so Sebastian could see it.

"You found it?" he asked as he took it from her "thank you"

Sebastian's mother walked in at this point, holding several shopping bags, calling out to him.

"Guess what I bought for you, an outfit for Kiss on the Lips" she said with a smile "I saw the invitation on your night stand"

"Oh, I'm not going to that" Sebastian said. His mother looked shocked. Danielle bit back a smile; not going to parties was pretty much expected in her household, mostly because neither Humphrey siblings was ever invited to any but apparently it was so very out of the ordinary for Sebastian to not attend one that it actually shocked his mother.

"What do you mean you're not going?" she said "Blaine's throwing it"

"Oh you see by the time I got the invitation I actually already had plans" Sebastian lied.

"With whom?" his mother question.

Sebastian paused for a moment before jerking a thumb in Danielle's direction.

"With my friend" he told him. Sebastian gave her a sort of pleading look and she jumped into action.

"It's uh nice to meet you Mrs Van Der Woodsen" she said "I'm Danielle Humphrey"

She gave Danielle a look that she was sure was a disapproving one before turning back to her son.

"What are you and Danielle Humphrey doing?" he asked

"We are uh…" Sebastian trailed off looking to Danielle for help. The only thing she could think of was her father's concert where she was actually planning to go to. She dug the flyer out of her coat and held it up.

"We're uh… going to a concert"

"Lincoln Hawk?" he asked

"Yeah, Rolling Stone's named them one of the top ten forgotten bands of the nineties" she said remembering the article her father had been so proud of.

"Woah!" Sebastian said "big fan"

"Well this party would been a great place to announce your return" she said as if in one last attempt to get his son to go when he saw that he wasn't budging she added, tapping the bags in her hands "I guess we'll have to save this for another day"

She smiled at her son as she passed him presumably heading up to her hotel room.

"Thank you" Sebastian said as soon as his mother was out of ear shot.

"It's uh…its fine" she told him folding the flyer in her hand and turning to leave.

"So you'll pick me up at eight?" Sebastian called after her.

She turned around, wondering if this whole thing was a dream. It was a miracle that Sebastian Van Der Woodsen was even talking to her in the first place but now he was agreeing to go out with her, it was unbelievable.

"You'd really go out with some girl you don't know?" she asked. He smiled softly and nodded.

"You can't be worse than the girls I do know" he said before leaving.

…..

"You're going out with Sebastian and I'm going to Kiss on the Lips, who said this family wasn't cool" Jeremy said proudly as he pulled on the jacket he'd spent the last two days making. Danielle herself was wearing a blue dress that she had to bribe Jeremy to make a few months earlier.

The two siblings were standing in front of a long mirror making sure they look good enough for their perspective plans. As Jeremy had put it, it was their chance to finally make their dreams come true; they had to make a good impression.

"I don't want to be later, so I've got to go" Danielle told him grabbing her coat. She wished Jeremy good luck as she passed put her hands on his upper arms and leaning forwards to kiss him on the top of his head.

He rolled his eyes but called 'you too' as she left.

…..

Sebastian was standing on a balcony that overlooked the lobby when Danielle walked in. He smiled down at her, she looked absolutely beautiful. Most girls he met around here seemed the same as all the others, same over expensive clothing, same professionally styled hair. But there was something different about Danielle, she had personality, character, individuality and Sebastian really, really liked that.

…..

"I'd like to introduce you to someone in the band" Danielle told him as they walked.

"So what you're some kind of groupie now?" Sebastian asked only half teasing.

"Not quite" Danielle told her. Her father was walking towards them at this point, all smiles.

"Sebastian I'd like you to meet my father, Rufus Humphrey" she introduced "dad this Sebastian"

"Ah, Sebastian Van Der Woodsen" he smiled sticking out a hand for Sebastian to shake "I don't know how I know that"

"It's nice to meet you Mr Humphrey" he said smiling politely and shaking his hand.

"You guys are early; we don't go on for a while"

"Yeah, I sort of over budgeted for travel time" Danielle admitted sheepishly

"I guess I'll see you guys later" Rufus said before ducking away to finishing setting up.

He'd never met the parents on the first date before. He'd never really met the parents at all before. Apparently he wasn't the meet the parent's kind of guy to most girls; they wanted someone like Blaine, someone respectable. But that was the old Sebastian; he was determent to be the good guy now.

"You took me to meet your father on our first date?" he questioned.

"This is a date?" Danielle teased "oh, now I feel underdressed I should have worn my heels, maybe done my hair up a bit more"

Sebastian laughed.

…

"What?" Sebastian asked when he noticed her staring at him.

"It's just my brother was right, you are nice" she told him tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"So you didn't even know if I was nice and yet you asked me out?" Sebastian asked cocking his head to the side.

"I knew you were hot" she replied "besides you actually asked me out"

"Oh I see little miss tortured soul is actually kind of superficial" he laughed.

"Yeah just a little bit" Danielle chuckled just as her phone beeped alerting her to the fact she had a new text.

It was from her brother, something about an emergency. Danielle wasn't quite sure, the last 'emergency' Jeremy had was over which coat to wear to the party. She was about to ignore it and continue her date when she got a new message. The new message was Jeremy insisting that she was serious and asking if he knew a girl named Chuck?

"Better offer?" Sebastian asked.

"No it's my brother, he's at that Kiss on the Lips party and is apparently having some trouble with some girl named Chuck, I should probably go, I'm sorry"

Sebastian shook his head, grabbing a hold of her hand.

"I'll go with you" he told her

"No, no" she told him shaking her head "you don't have to do that"

"Yeah I do" he argued "I know Chuck and trust me it's a big deal if she's involved"

…

On the ride to the party she learnt a whole lot more about Chuck, enough to make her feel queasy. Apparently she'd tried her act on Sebastian before, she would make herself seemed vulnerable and get you close before launching herself at you in a way that would make you feel guilty about fighting back.

At the party she couldn't see Jeremy anywhere so she decided to do a lap hoping to spot him somewhere, leaving Sebastian alone to face the scrutiny of his former friends and peers.

They met up again soon after and Sebastian suggested they try upstairs, they eventually found the pair on the roof. Jeremy telling Chuck to get off him but she wasn't listening.

"Hey!" Danielle yelled "Jeremy!"

Charlotte pulled away glowering at them and Jeremy took this as his opportunity to escape running towards his sister. Danielle made sure that Jeremy was safe with Sebastian both running at the other girl shoving her hard.

"You bitch!" she screamed

"What the hells is your problem!" Charlotte yelled "it's a party, things happen, who are you anyway?"

"How many times do I have to tell you!" she snapped "I'm in your class, my name is Danielle Humphrey and that is my little brother!"

She ended her statement by punching the other girl as hard as she could in the face. She would've done it again if Sebastian hadn't moved them away towards the door.

"Don't you ever touch him again" he warned as they left.

"Your life is over!" she yelled after them "don't forget I know everything!"

Sebastian loudly slammed the door behind him.

…

"Do you think I have shot at a second date?" she asked once things had calmed down and they reached their cab.

"Well I don't think you can top this one" he shot back, a smile on his face.

"True I _did_ punch someone" she pointed out.

"We'll talk about it in the cab okay?" he suggested as they got in. She nodded in reply.


	2. Chapter 2: The Wild Brunch

**Chapter Two: **The Wild Brunch

Danielle pulled up the roller door that separated her and Jeremy's bedroom and was surprised to see that he was already awake working on another project at his sewing machine.

"You don't need to keep checking on me" he told her "I told you I'm fine"

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, dropped his project and moving to his bed.

"I just feel stupid" he admitted "she had me thinking she was like you, harmless you know?"

"Me, harmless?" she scoffed "I punched a girl in the face remember?"

"I remember" Jeremy laughed "it was quite a show"

Danielle mock scowled and began close the roller door.

"The real question is how are you?" Jeremy spoke up stopping her in her tracks

"Me?" she asked pulling up the door again "why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well after how your date with Sebastian ended…" he mimicked the wave she'd done the night before.

Danielle groaned running a hand through her hair.

"It wasn't really that bad was it?" she asked

…..

"She waved?" Erica asked from where she was sprawled on the arm chair staring down at her own hand "you know I wouldn't have taken her for a waver"

Sebastian tossed his head back and continued to pace the length of the room.

"She was just trying to be funny…I think"

"Maybe she's shy?" Erica suggested with a shrug

"Or she hated me" Sebastian groaned crossing his arms. He'd thought the date had gone pretty well, apart from the parts that had involved Charlotte Bass but now he was having second thoughts. He liked Danielle but did she like him back?

"No girl has ever hated you" Erica pointed out "ever"

…

"He probably thinks I hate him now" Danielle complained also pacing back and forth, she groaned and threw her hands up in the air "why did I have to wave!"

"It was a nice wave" Jeremy told her in an attempt at comfort.

"Come on" she shot back "at the end of the date? There's no such thing"

"You only get one shot with a guy like Sebastian and I had mine and I blew it" she sighed moving to the nearby arm chair.

She'd been waiting for years for a chance for a date with him and she just had to ruin it with a wave. Sometimes she actually wished she was more like all the girls in her class, somebody like Natalie Archibald would never close a date with a wave.

"That just means you have nothing to lose" Jeremy told her

"Yeah nothing except my dignity"

"Oh no that's already gone" Jeremy said with a smirk. An idea began forming in her head at this point and she jumped up from the chair.

"Yeah you're right" she said "I'm going to go over, apologize for the wave, tell him how much I like him and ask for a second shot" she shook her head "no I'm going to get a second shot"

"Yeah you are!" Jeremy exclaimed pumping a fist in the air for encouragement. She moved to leave.

"Wait!" he called after her, she paused turning to him "I _love _the plan but you really need to change"

She looked down at her oversized t-shirt and old jeans and nodded, he had a point.

…..

"Whatever" Sebastian said moving to sit on the end of Erica's bed "it's probably for the best the last thing I need in my life right now is another girl, she was just so smart though and funny"

"It sounds like you like her" Erica observed.

"And really nice" he added before changing the subject "I saw Blaine last night, he was the opposite of nice, but I'm sure we can work it out, we always do, maybe I should go over there?"

…..

The roller door was pushed open again and Danielle was dressed in a more appropriate outfit for Sebastian's world. She held out her arms and spun once to show it off.

"What do you think?" she asked Jeremy.

"Definitely second shot material" he confirmed. Danielle grinned and grabbed her cell passing through Jeremy's room as she left. She paused.

"If you want to talk about what happened last night…."

"Actually there is someone I want to talk to, can you wait a minute?" he asked moving to his cupboard for a change of clothes. She nodded and left the room so he could get changed.

They were both ready to leave just as their father came in carrying shopping bags.

"Where are you going?" he asked "I was going to make waffles"

"Out" Jeremy responded "we'll be back soon enough"

"But I wanted to hear about your nights" he argued "about your date" he nodded in Danielle's direction "and your party" he added turning to Jeremy.

"Later" Danielle called as they left the apartment.

…..

The same woman before was at the desk when she walked into the hotel. She really wasn't looking forward to dealing with her frosty demeanour. She took in a deep breath and waved, she really had to stop waving, it was becoming a bad habit.

"Hey!" she greeted "I was in yesterday with um…Sebastian"

"How could I forget" the other woman shot back obviously not pleased to see her.

"I was just wondering if he was here?"

"You just missed him actually, but you're welcome to wait" she said pointing out the row of nearby chairs.

"Ok, I'll do that" she nodded moving to sit down.

She really shouldn't have been surprised to see Natalie Archibald and Mrs Van Der Woodsen in the lobby minutes later apparently Mrs Van Der Woodsen wasn't surprised to see her.

"Ah, I had a feeling I'd see you again" she said "Danielle is it?"

"Yes" she nodded rising from the chair "it's nice to see you again Mrs Van Der Woodsen, I hope you had nice twenty one hours since I last saw you"

"Yes it has been very pleasant" she shot back "until now"

Yep, Sebastian's mother really didn't like her. She wondered if she would be around long enough to have a chance to change that. Mrs Van Der Woodsen soon left leaving Natalie and Danielle alone, staring at each both uncomfortably silent.

"Hey" Natalie said after a while

"Hey" Danielle replied.

Natalie didn't seem to be in the talking mood as she simply moved to sit on the chair next to the one that Danielle had previously been occupying. Danielle followed suit and sat back down.

…

They'd been waiting for a while in complete silence when Natalie decided it would be better if she waited out the front of the hotel for Sebastian. Danielle followed her out there about ten minutes later.

"So what did you want to talk to Sebastian about?" she asked the other girl.

"Nothing, I was just in the neighbourhood" Natalie replied. Danielle was pretty sure it was a lie, you wouldn't sit around and wait that long if you were just in the neighbourhood.

"What about you?" Natalie asked turning to look at her.

"I uh… wasn't in the neighbourhood" she admitted "but I'm trying to come up with a better excuse"

"So are you and Sebastian…." She asked trailing off at the end.

"I uh…um… I … uh don't know" she stammered. Natalie laughed

"That's Sebastian" she told her "with him you'll never know"

Charlotte Bass walked out of the hotel at this point, sunglasses covering her eyes, a smile on her face.

"Natalie?" she called "what are you doing here?"

"Nothing" Natalie lied walking over to her "just waiting for you"

At this point Charlotte noticed Danielle and her smile dropped, she slid the sunglasses off her face revealing the black eye that Danielle had given her last night.

"Her?" she asked starting towards her "hey, what are you doing here?"

"Why?" Danielle asked walking towards her "what is this, your hotel?"

"Actually it is" Natalie told her, trying to hold Charlotte back.

"So unless you have a reason to be here I'm going to have to ask you to stand on the curb with the rest of the trash"

"Trash?" Danielle snapped "look I live in Brooklyn not the Ozarks, no offence to the Ozarks, don't you think we're taking this class warfare thing a little too far?"

"I haven't even started!" Charlotte snapped breaking away from Natalie and shoving her.

"Okay, let's just go inside" Natalie tried grabbing her and pulling her back.

"Don't tell me you're sticking up for this bitch?" Charlotte said "if anyone has a reason to kick her arse it's you!"

Danielle couldn't think of anything she'd done to offend or hurt Natalie, why would Charlotte want her to hurt her?

"She's not worth it" Natalie argued "let's not do this here"

"This is not over!" Charlotte called as Natalie pulled her away.

"Any time!" Danielle replied "that one black eye's looking a little lonely"

….

She'd resorted to walking around the circular pattern outside the hotel, one foot in front of the other, to pass the time when Sebastian finally showed up. He walked up behind her easily as she was focused on her footing.

"Danielle?" he asked, smiling brightly at her when she turned to look at him "what are you doing here?"

"I was just in the neighbourhood" she told him, turns up she couldn't think up a better excuse "give or take seventy blocks"

Sebastian laughed a little and nodded.

"I just wanted to tell you in person" she started, his smile dropped "that the end of last night was not my finest moment, I think it was an uh a wave?" she exaggerated the one she'd done last night. Sebastian was smiling again, she was thankful of that.

"I..uh.. I saw that" he admitted.

"So I've been thinking ever since that happened…" she trailed off, not sure where she was going with this "are you hungry?" she asked, hoping that she would get a second chance.

"Yes actually" Sebastian said "I've had the worst morning"

"Do you want to talk about it and eat?" she asked "not necessarily in that order"

"Yes" he nodded "but let's eat first because I'm starving"

"Good" Sebastian's mother said as she arrived, walking through the gates "just in time for brunch"

"Mom" he started "I don't think it's a good idea for me to go to that brunch"

"You promised Sebastian" she pointed out.

"Yes that was before…" he paused turning back to Danielle "before I knew that Danielle was hungry too, I can't let the girl starve"

"It would be inhumane" Danielle agreed going along with whatever he was doing, just like the other day.

"She's not invited" Sebastian's mother pointed out.

"Yeah, that's why I'm going with her" he shot back.

"Because I can't go with him" Danielle agreed.

"And we had plans…to go to brunch together" Sebastian told her. It was only sort of a lie, they did have plans but they'd only just been made.

"We had those plans" Danielle added.

"Sebastian you're home living under my roof and my rules, what's it going to take to get you dressed and through that door?" his mother asked obviously frustrated with the two of them

….

Danielle never thought she be attending an event like this. Fancy brunches were not really her thing, all this luxury was a part of Sebastian's world and not hers. These people were not part of her crowd, not that she really had a crowd.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea" Sebastian admitted when he caught sight of Blaine sitting at a table with Natalie, Charlotte and a few of Blaine's friends/minions. Blaine was obviously not happy to see him here. It felt like just yesterday that he'd been sitting with them, right next to Blaine, boy had things changed.

Sebastian took hold of Danielle's hand fittingly nervous.

"Yeah this was definitely a bad idea" she added when she caught sight of Charlotte Bass glaring at her.

"Let's just do it" Sebastian nodded dropping Danielle's hand and they stepped into the room together.

….

"Well I can't say much for his child rearing skills, but Bart Bass knows brunch" Danielle commented looking at the large array of extravagant foods spread out in front of her. Sebastian laughed a little before he noticed Natalie Archibald standing not far behind them. She jerked her head towards the door in a 'come with me' gesture and when he shook his head she only did it again.

"I umm… have to go to the men's room" he lied turning back to Danielle "you'll be alright by yourself won't you?"

"Yeah um, me and some Beluga Caviar?" she told him "it'll be great"

"Ok" Sebastian nodded before darting away.

'I'll be fine' Danielle repeated in her head 'I'll be fine' she stopped her mantra when she spotted Charlotte Bass glaring at her. Yeah, it probably wasn't going to be fine.

…..

"Sebastian" Natalie called when she noticed him leave the room "I need to talk to you"

"No" Sebastian shot back "I need to you to you, so that means you listen, Nat you told Blaine! What were you thinking?"

Blaine had been his best friend since before he could walk, it had always been the two of them and now he didn't even want to be in the same room, he was stupid to think that just because he was back that things would go back to normal.

She let out the breathe she hadn't even realised she'd been holding

"I want to explain but we can't talk here" Natalie told him.

"What you afraid Blaine might see us?" he shot back.

"Meet me in Chuck's suite" she said holding out the key for him.

"I'm not sneaking around with you" he said

"Please" she pleaded "just to talk"

After a moment he gave in grabbing the key from her.

"Ten minutes" he told her. He just wanted to get back to Danielle; the longer he took the more suspicious she would be. It would be really bad if she found out he'd dragged her here only for him to spend most of his time with another girl.

"I'll meet you up there" Natalie nodded.

…..

When Natalie said she wanted to talk Sebastian didn't think that Blaine would be with him or that they'd be all over each other when they got there.

"Nat?" he called when he heard stumbling in the entrance.

"Sebastian?" Blaine asked just as surprised to see him.

"Blaine" Sebastian finally said after few moment of awkward silence.

"What is he doing here?" Blaine snapped staring straight at Sebastian, advancing toward him but talking to Nat.

"I was meeting Nat" he told him. There was no use in lying, it would only make thing worse.

"Just to talk, I swear" Natalie tried to explain grabbing hold of Blaine arm.

"You said you'd never speak to him again!" he snapped

"You said that?" Sebastian asked her "why would you say that?"

He never thought that Nat would be so willing to cut off all contact with him.

"Because you can't be trusted" Blaine said turning his attention back on him

"It's not Sebastian's fault" Nat tried

"Do not defend him!" he snapped

"I asked him to come" she tried to explain.

"Oh, so you do want to talk to him again?" Blaine questioned.

"Yes!" Nat exclaimed "to explain…why I'm not talking to him"

"Maybe I'll leave you two to finish that fascinating conversation" Blaine snapped sarcastically already heading for the door.

"No" Sebastian cut in, angrily "I'll go, let you guys get back to your quickie"

"It wasn't a quickie!" Blaine exclaimed "sex is actually a big deal to some of us!"

"Oh yeah I can see that" he shot back sarcastically "Chuck's bed, very romantic, classy too"

"Oh like you?" he scoffed heading for the door "oh, I bet your new friend Danielle would _love _to hear about how classy you are"

"Danielle?" he asked. He wouldn't would he? The hateful look that Blaine shot him as he closed the door told him that he definitely would. Danielle would probably never speak to him again if she learnt about half the stuff he'd done.

"You really think he would tell her?" he asked turning to Nat

"It's Blaine" she pointed out; they both knew what he was capable of.

They both left the room together hoping to catch up with Blaine before he could find Danielle.

"I can't believe you told him!" he snapped as they ran, chasing after Blaine

"You just expected me to keep it a secret?" she asked angrily.

"Yes Nat!" he shot back "there's nothing wrong with keeping a secret if it stops people from getting hurt"

"That's a hell of a way to look at it"

"Oh I'm sorry" he snapped sarcastically "I didn't realise that all of a sudden you're the most honest person on the planet!"

…

Danielle hadn't seen Sebastian in a while, too long for just a dash to the bathroom. She headed outside hoping he'd be out there. He wasn't. But his mother was. She was having a conversation with Bart Bass, a conversation that seemed to be about the two of them having a relationship. Lilly caught her eye and broke away from Bart.

Danielle headed back inside hoping to get away from what she'd seen. But Lilly followed.

"Danielle wait" she said "I really don't appreciate your lurking in the shadows eavesdropping on my private conversation"

She was tempted to tell her that if she wanted to have a private conversation she probably shouldn't have had it outside a busy hotel but held back. Sebastian mother already didn't like her, there was no need to make it worse.

"No, I wasn't" she argued "I was looking for Sebastian"

"Well I don't see him" Lilly said "do you?"

"No" Danielle told her shaking her head "which is why I was looking"

"I don't know what you're doing here or what you think you heard…"

"Nothing, I heard nothing" Danielle lied; she'd heard everything but was willing to pretend she didn't.

"But Sebastian doesn't know" Lilly told her

"Well neither do I" she assured her "so if you'll excuse me I'm going to go back inside, not tell anyone a thing and mind my own business okay?"

"Okay"

…..

When she got back inside she still couldn't see Sebastian anywhere and was actually starting to wonder if she'd been ditched. Blaine Waldorf walked into the room looking flustered and looking around for someone, apparently her because when she caught sight of her he straightened up and walked over.

"Danielle?" he asked holding out his hand for her to shake "I'm Blaine, Blaine Waldorf, Sebastian's friend"

"Oh hey" she greeted shaking his hand "do you know where he is?"

"As a matter of fact I.."

He was cut off by Sebastian who finally arrived followed by Natalie.

"Blaine" he said.

"Sebastian, there you are where were you?"

"He was waiting in a hotel room for my girlfriend" Blaine cut in.

"To talk" Sebastian explained.

"About why we weren't talking" Natalie added.

"That doesn't sound any smarted the second time" Blaine said.

"Why weren't you talking?" Danielle asked thoroughly confused when she was met with only an awkward silence she added, looking at Natalie "does this have anything to do with why you were waiting for Sebastian this morning?"

"What?" Blaine snapped sounding appalled by this new information.

"I thought you were waiting for me" Charlotte said joining the group.

"Oh exactly what this situation needs: Chuck" Danielle said sarcastically. She was still very angry with the other girl about the previous night and really didn't want to deal with her but apparently she was just not going away.

"What's going on?" Danielle asked.

"We were just getting to that" Blaine spoke up a smirk on his face.

"Blaine" Sebastian tried "please, don't do this"

"Sorry" he said, obviously not sorry "did you want to tell her?" he jerked his head towards Danielle.

"I'll tell" Charlotte cut in.

"You know?" both Nat and Blaine asked, Sebastian already knew he knew and Danielle still had no idea what was going on.

"I know everything" she said.

"And apparently I know nothing" Danielle added.

"Look, Danielle" Sebastian started "it was a long time ago and I regret it…"

"Sebastian" Chuck cut in "stop trying to pretend you're a good guy, so you slept with your best friends girlfriend, I kind of admire you for it"

Sebastian didn't have anything to say in reply, but his guilty face said it all.

"Is that true?" Danielle asked him

"Yes" Blaine cut in when Sebastian didn't say anything "and then she ran away and lied about it, I just thought you should know, before you fall head over heels for you perfect guy in his perfect world and then get left alone with nobody but your cabbage patch kid"

"Cabbage patch?" Nat asked.

"Have you talked to my brother?" she asked him. How else would he know about her cabbage patch kid?

"Ah yes" Chuck smirked "little Jeremy, I do believe he and I have some unfinished business"

She moved past Blaine so that she was standing in front of the other girl.

"You stay away from him" she warned

"Poor Danielle" she tutted "so little time, so many sluts to defend"

She was red and shoved her hard right into a waiter carrying a tray full of glasses. The waiter stumbled and fell when Chuck bumped into him, the glasses smashing around him. The crowd around them feel silent, everyone looking at them.

She did the only thing she could of, she ran.

….

Sebastian caught up with her outside the hotel, calling out her name. She didn't stop she just wanted to get the hell out of there. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid, she really thought he was different.

"Wait" he said "I'm so sorry"

"There's no need to be" she told him, stopping and turning to face him "I shouldn't have come today, I made a mistake"

"No" he argued "look I'm sorry about Blaine and Chuck"

"It's not about them" she started "well it is, but it's not just that"

"Trust me I know, this world is crazy" Sebastian tried

"Yeah, yeah it is" she breathed "and you're a part of it"

"And what you didn't know that?" he asked sarcastically

"I just thought you were different" she told him turning back around to leave.

"I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was" he told her "but what happened is in the past and I'm trying to change and if you can't accept that then you're not who I thought you were" he paused waiting for a response from her when she didn't do anything he added "well I guess we both made a mistake"

…..

She was sitting alone drinking a mug of hot chocolate and moping when her brother and father got home carrying bags of food and looking chirpy and pleasant.

"So Jeremy told me you went looking for Sebastian" her father said, Jeremy nodded to confirm this "did you find him?"

"Yeah, I found him" she said spinning the mug around slightly "and lost him"

Their smiles quickly dropped.

"It's fine" she assured them "it's for the best, that world just isn't for me" she moved off her seat walking across the room, Jeremy following close behind.

"What happened?" he asked "everything was fine this morning"

"Did you tell Blaine Waldorf about my cabbage patch kid?" she asked.

"It..uh..may have come up" he stammered.

"You can't trust these people Jeremy" she warned, a little jaded after the events of that day "don't tell them anything"


	3. Chapter 3: Poison Ivy

**This chapter may be shorter than the other because I had to cut a lot of the ushers stuff.**

** Chapter Three:** Poison Ivy

Danielle had spent most of her morning in front of the mirror. It was Ivy Week, one of the most important times of her high school life. Things had to be perfect. Her parents had sacrificed a lot to make sure that both she and her brother got the best education possible she had to make it worth it.

There was an assembly that morning and as usual the Constance girls were sitting on one side of the hall and the St Jude's boys on the other. After a performance from the choir their principals stood up to address the crowd.

They went on to talk about the upcoming mixer and how as tradition dictated the boys would be the Ushers for the Constance girls would organise the mixer. When they added that for anyone planning to go to an Ivy college this was the most important event in their life, Danielle felt a little sick.

…

"During the mixer Blaine Waldorf will announce which charity his community outreach program" Principal Queller announced. Blaine sat up a little straighter and smiled proudly to himself.

"Have you seen Sebastian?" Kade asked turning to Isaac who was sitting next to him.

"No, I don't think he's here" he replied as he looked around the room.

"Shush" Blaine told them "how am I supposed to hear about Yale with all this talk about Sebastian"

…..

Sebastian had spent the night at his sister's side and because of this he was running late. He barely had time to go home and change for school and most of his time at home was spent listening arguing with his mother.

Everyone was leaving the assembly when he arrived, he was later then he thought.

He spotted Danielle and walked over to her.

"Uh" he groaned "please don't tell me it's over"

"I uh I thought we made that pretty clear the other night" she told him confused.

"I meant the assembly" he explained nodding to the room behind them.

"Oh yeah it just ended" she told him recovering quickly.

"Damn it" he muttered.

"Well um good luck" Danielle told him as she walked away.

"Yeah you too" he said even though there was no way she could hear him.

Blaine walked over to him, flanked by Isaac and Kade, a vindictive smile on his face.

"Oh, too bad you missed the assembly" he said sarcastically "not that it matters Brown doesn't offer degree's in _slut_"

…..

It was just his luck that he had physical education with Blaine next. They were playing field hockey and were both on different teams. Blaine had always been competitive, he really liked to win but he hated losing even more, but he seemed to have stepped up his game for this match. But he didn't care about winning the game; it seemed to be all about getting revenge on Sebastian.

"Look I made a mistake with Nat, but then you sabotaged me with Danielle, we don't have to be friends but can we at least..." Sebastian tried to talk to him but Blaine didn't seem to be in the talking mood as he smashed his stick into the back of Sebastian's leg.

He stumbled a little, almost falling.

"Sorry" Blaine told the watching class "it slipped"

"I'm fine" Sebastian assured them. Happy with this the coach started the game up again. Things were okay for about a minute until Blaine elbowed him hard when he passed. Blaine was warned about his behaviour but didn't seem to care it just happen again, this time he pushed hard enough to actually send Sebastian to the ground.

"Enough!" he snapped standing up and moving to stand in front of Blaine in what he hoped was threating manner.

"It's enough when I say it's enough" Blaine shot back. Sebastian had enough, he pushed Blaine back.

"Is that enough?" he snapped. Blaine was seething. He ran at him and soon they were both on the ground, rolling around trying to land punches.

…..

Danielle was exhausted when she finally got home. She had been picked to be on the planning committee for the Friday night Ivy mixer, it was what she wanted and she thought it was great at first but somehow she'd been lobbed with most of the work.

Her father had made bolognaise….again, but apparently he had really out done himself this time. She doubted that because he almost always said that.

They were halfway through dinner when Jeremy realised that his normally talkative sister had barely spoken.

"Why so quite?" he asked "I thought you'd be telling us all about the mixer"

"I would be if I could find the energy too" she muttered "I'm exhausted"

"Hey what did you expect?" Jeremy asked "it's an Ivy mixer"

Danielle merely shrugged lazily.

….

Sebastian visited his sister at the Ostroff Treatment Centre again that afternoon. He was spending a lot of time with her lately which his mother was not all too happy about. According to her he should be focusing on college considering it was Ivy Week. But this time his mother was going to be there as well, participating in family counselling session.

Sebastian had headphones shoved in his ears as he walked, music turned up loud. Maybe if he didn't he would've noticed Charlotte Bass's limousine following him

…

"I've been coming here for the past week, nothing's going to change if she stops hiding here her and lets her get back to her life" Sebastian said getting frustrated with the whole thing.

"It's not hiding" her mother argued "it's called recovery"

"Telling everyone she's staying with Aunt Carol in Miami?" he asked. Lilly shook her head.

"She's not ready"

"She's not or you're not?" he questioned leaning forward in his seat.

"Ok" the therapist cut in "let's take a deep breath, it's good to see honest conversation"

Sebastian leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes.

"What does she know about honesty?"

"Sebastian…" Lily tied. Luckily the therapist cut in again.

"I think a decision like this includes Erica as well" she pointed out pointing to the girl who'd been quite this whole time.

"Does that mean that I get a say in this?" Erica asked sarcastically "wow thanks"

"Erica of course" their mother said "we're here for you"

Sebastian glared at his mother before leaning forward to talk to his sister.

"Look, if you want to leave just tell us okay?" he told her, holding onto her arm "no matter what mom says"

Erica nodded before turning back to the therapist.

"I would really like to get out of here" she admitted. Sebastian looked over at Lilly smiling smugly who let out an exasperated sigh "but maybe I'm not ready yet" Erica added when she saw this.

"Hey what about just for a few hours" he suggested "you can come me to the Ivy league party tonight"

"Sebastian" their mother interrupted "that party is an important event for you"

"She'll be around people she knows, it'll be fun and she'll be comfortable" Sebastian pointed out.

"Actually that sounds really great" Erica admitted grinning.

"There we go" the therapist nodded sounding proud "comprise, it wasn't so hard was it?"

….

"Now just remember if you feel light headed or panicky just come to me" Lilly was telling her daughter as the three of them stepped out of the car.

"It's fine mom" she assured her "all I have to be normal right?"

"Or at least act normal" she said to Sebastian when their mother took off ahead of them,

"Works for mom"

Sebastian sought out the Yale rep when he walked into the party. Blaine was supposed to be his rep and if he could just take the attention away from Blaine he would get his revenge for what happened with Danielle and the hockey incident. It turned out to be pretty easy actually, all he had to was introduce himself, subtly insult Blaine and offer to go with the rep to fill up his glass.

…..

Danielle was watching Natalie had what looked to be a very uncomfortable conversation with the Dartmouth rep from over near the refreshment table when Sebastian and the Yale rep walked over, Sebastian had the charm turned up to eleven.

"You thinking of going to Yale?" Danielle asked when Sebastian went to get the drinks.

"No Brown" he explained "it's just this thing with Blaine"

"Oh, I get it since you don't have to actually worry about getting into college why not make the whole evening about screwing over Blaine" she said. She sounded bitter and she knew it.

"Thanks" Sebastian muttered sarcastically before walking away leaving the drinks behind.

…

"May I please have everyone's attention?" Blaine called climbing up onto the stage; he cleared his throat and started "welcome again to the Constance Billard, St. Jude's Ivy week mixer, I'm Blaine Waldorf, chair of the community outreach committee" a round of applause broke out through the crowd "every year our school chooses to support one local institution we feel benefits out community, this year our schools have chosen to honour the Ostroff Centre"

The Van Der Woodsen's started paying a whole lot more attention after that. Blaine smiled smugly at Sebastian's glared back, he was furious; this was taking it way too far. He moved through the crowd and over to Erica putting a hand on her arm and trying to move her towards their mother.

"This semester our choice is a very personal one because the centre has helped one of our own" Blaine asked.

"What is going on here?" Lilly asked when she met up with her kids, voice full of worry. Worry for who Sebastian wasn't quite sure.

"It's because of their excellent program which aids so many young addicts and alcoholics that a student here with us today is clean and sober, at least for now, can I please have Sebastian Van Der Woodsen join me on stage?"

Sebastian resisted the urge to punch him and walked onto the stage, trying to ignore the stares and the whispers.

"Don't try to deny it" Blaine warned "Chuck saw you"

"Hi I'm Sebastian Van Der Woodsen" he spoke to the crowd "I uh, I just want to thank my friend Blaine Waldorf for recognising the Ostroff Centre and all of the good things that they do, thanks Blaine" he clapped and soon enough the whole crowd was, most of them anyway "at the centre one of the main things that we learn is forgiveness…"

"He's in rehab?" Danielle asked turning to her nearby brother

"No, it's not him" Jeremy whispered "it's his sister that's there"

"What?"

"You can't tell anyone okay?" Jeremy asked

"I won't" she assured him "but why is he doing this?"

"….about how in order to move onto our future we need to forgive those who've wronged us in the past and we must ourselves ask for forgiveness from those whom we've wrong" Sebastian continued turning to Blaine "without this forgiveness innocent people get hurt"

"Alright" Blaine exclaimed stepping forward and cutting in "thank you Sebastian, thank you"

….

"Why is Blaine outing you for a drug problem you don't have?" Lilly asked following her son out of the mixer "you don't do you?"

"Mom" he snapped turning around.

"It's not like we have a very open relationship Sebastian" she pointed out.

"And that's my fault?" he questioned.

Lilly took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down; turning this into a shouting match would not do any good.

"What happened to Erica has put a huge strain on this family" she tried "but we are still a family"

"Why do you think I did what I just did?" he asked "can you excuse me, I've got to go end this with Blaine, now"

….

"Do you feel better, are we even now?" he asked him when he got him alone.

"No" Blaine replied shaking his head in what looked to be disbelief "because nothing I do will ever be as bad as what you've done to me"

"Please just stop, I will if you do" he told him. He couldn't allow Blaine to hurt any more innocent people in their stupid fight.

"You're just saying that because today you lost" Blaine shot back "and you're going to keep losing"

…

Sebastian stormed outside, Danielle following after her. The opposite of what had happened after the brunch.

"Sebastian wait!" she called.

"What?" he snapped turning around "here to congratulate me on ruining my future?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay" she explained "I mean after what you did for your sister…"

"Wait, how did you know about my sister?" he asked.

"Trust me nobody will hear about it from me" she assured him "but if you want to talk about it, or not talk about it, I'd be happy to do either"

Sebastian smiled a little; he seemed to have calmed down.

"I'll keep that in mind"

"I know I've said some things about you today, about your world and I just wanted to apologize" she told him "I don't know anything about your life"

He smiled again, she was glad to see that.

"Thank you" he nodded "but I've really got to get out of here"

"Oh sure" she told him, moving to head back inside and let Sebastian inside.

"But ah, I'd like to take you up your offer, the whole not talking thing sometime" he told her "will you call me?"

"Yeah sure"

…

Sebastian was curled up on a bench, reading, listening to the rain and wallowing in his own misery when Blaine approached him. He was walking slowly head bowed, fidgeting with his hands.

"I knew I'd find you here" he said.

"Looking for a fight?" Sebastian snapped dropping his book and moving to stand in front of Blaine.

"No" Blaine replied shaking his head and pulling an envelope out of his pocket "I wanted to show you this"

"What's that?" he asked

"A letter" Blaine explained, he didn't sound angry anymore, just sad "I wrote it to you while you were away at boarding school, I never sent it" he tore it open and pulled out the paper inside.

"Dear Sebastian" he begun "my world is falling apart and you're the only one who would understand, my father left my mother for a thirty one year old model, a male model. I feel like screaming because I don't have anyone to talk to, you're gone, my dad's gone, Nat's acting weird, where are you? Why don't you call? Why did you leave without saying goodbye? You're supposed to be my best friend, I miss you so much, love Blaine"

"Why didn't you send it?" he asked once he was finished "I would've…"

"You would've what?" Blaine asked "you knew, you knew and you didn't even call"

"I didn't know what to say" he admitted "after what I did I didn't know how to be your friend, I'm really sorry"

"Erica told me what happened" Blaine told him "I guess your family has been going through a hard time too"

Blaine shot him a small smile which he thankfully returned.


	4. Chapter 4: Bad News Blaine

**Chapter Four: **Bad News Blair

The extravagant Waldorf penthouse was bustling hive of activity that morning. Eleanor Waldorf was back from her Paris trip, racks of clothing in tow. Sebastian had arrived to drag Blaine out for a morning of hanging out, like they used to before he left for boarding school and was surprised to see Blaine's mother back in town.

"Sebastian?" she asked picking up a strawberry from the tray in front of her and popping it into her mouth.

"Hello Mrs Waldorf" he greeted politely. She shook her head and patted the sofa beside the armchair she was sitting on.

"Come sit" she instructed "and how many time do I have to tell you to call me Eleanor?"

"Sorry Eleanor" he said moving to sit down "is Blaine in?"

Eleanor leaned back in her chair shaking her head.

"He's still in bed" she told him "you know how he likes his beauty sleep"

….

Eleanor had been in the middle of telling Sebastian all about how Bendel's was interested in carrying her new line when Blaine finally showed his face. Sebastian was relieved he didn't know how much longer he could sit there and nod and smile and pretend to be interested in the details of fashion.

"Hey you're up" he grinned. Blaine seemed confused to see him.

"Do we have plans?" he asked walking the rest of the way down the staircase.

….

"I think my mother likes you more than me" Blaine admitted once they had left the Waldorf penthouse and were out on the city streets. Sure even Sebastian had to admit that it was obvious that Mrs Waldorf was hard on her son but that was only because she loved him and wanted the best out of him.

"Must be my natural charm" he joked, Blaine turned to glare at him "kidding, kidding, you're her son there's nobody she likes more then you"

"So you say" Blaine replied, heading for a nearby store "I'll be right back"

"Ok" he nodded "I'll wait here"

Barely five seconds had gone past when he spotted Danielle Humphrey walking on the other side of the road. He was pleased to see her, they hadn't see each other since the infamous Ivy league mixer and now that everything had calmed down he was actually really looking forward to her.

"Humphrey!" he called out, she stopped in her tracks looking around for whoever was calling out for her "Danielle!"

She finally spotted him, smiled widely and headed over.

"Hey what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh I was just on my way back from dropping off Jeremy at my moms and I picked up some Cubans for me and my dad" she paused tapping the white paper bag in her hand "sandwiches not cigars"

"Hey, you remember how you said we could get together and not talk sometime?" he asked, she nodded "is it sometime yet?"

Blaine reappeared at that moment, face screwed up in disgust

"That was horrifying" he complained.

"The bathroom?" Sebastian asked.

"No the people, it's like they've never heard of showers" he replied, at this point he noticed Danielle and turned to her "what are you doing here?" he didn't wait for a reply "whatever, when you're done with your charity case, come find me" he told Sebastian walking away, Danielle watched him leave.

"Wasn't that the guy who told the whole school and several college's that you had a drug problem?" she asked.

Sebastian shot her a half-hearted smile, nodding slowly.

"Yeah we're actually trying to work things out" he told him "today's our first day hanging out alone"

"Oh, I'll let you get back to it" she replied as she begun to walk away "have fun"

"I'll try" he nodded "I'll call you, so we can uh... not talk?"

"Sure"

…

Turns out finding the perfect model for Eleanor's new line was harder then she thought. Sebastian was listening to her rant and rave about why each model just wasn't right while he and Blaine looked through the racks of clothes nearby.

"I need someone fresh, someone new" Eleanor finally said closing the book she'd been looking through

Laurel, one of Eleanor's employees' who'd been helping her in her attempt to find a model, looked over at Blaine and Sebastian an idea forming in his mind.

"Why not use the two of them?" she suggested nodding towards the two boys.

"You do realise this is a line for females?" Eleanor pointed out.

"No not as models as scouts" Laurel said "they've been around your company long enough to know what you need, I'm sure they must know someone suitable"

Eleanor smiled a little and nodded, Laurel was right.

"That might just work" she agreed. Sebastian upon hearing this grabbed Blaine's arm and dragged him over to stand in front of Eleanor.

"We'll be happy to do it"

…..

"What about Nat?" Sebastian suggested flopping back against the pillows on Blaine's large bed. The other boy shook his head and begun pacing back and forth in front of the bed.

"She's doing some weekend long party with Chuck" he pointed out "and there's no way she'd want to do it anyway"

"Oh, what about that girl from school? The one who's always going on about how she could be a model?"

"I know about twenty girls who could fit that description" Blaine pointed out.

"I think her names Jane, brunette, pretty tall?"

Blaine frowned, shaking his head.

"Jane Gunderson?" he asked "no, that girl annoys me too much beside she's not model material"

"Well then, who is model material?" Sebastian asked sitting up again. Blaine sighed stopping his pacing and moving to sit on the end of the bed.

"Margaret Tyler" Blaine said finally.

"What?" he asked "that blonde girl that Isaac likes?"

"Yeah" Blaine replied with a nod and a smile "I think she'll be perfect, I'll go call her now"

"Good" Sebastian called after him. He waited until Blaine was gone before picking up his own phone

….

"Hey" Danielle greeted when she picked up Sebastian's phone call. She'd been lying on her bed when he called, flicking through an old worn book that she'd read many times before.

"Hey" Sebastian said "so I was...uh...wondering if you wanted to come see a movie with me tonight?"

God, he couldn't even remember the last time he had been this nervous speaking to another person.

"Sure, that would be great" she told him "when and where?"

"The Sunshine, six o'clock?" he asked

"I'll see you there" she replied a wide smile forming on her face that would remain there for the next few hours.

…..

Turns out Margaret Tyler was a really good fit for Eleanor's designs, she was a fresh face and had the both the talent and the looks needed. Blaine's mother was obviously happy with his decisions but the boy was still on edge.

"You don't think she'll mess everything up do you?" he asked watching Margaret pose for the camera "it could happen, what's my mother going to think if the girl _I_ choose ruins everything"

"Look I know you're stressing out about this but I really have to go I have to –" Sebastian started only to be cut off by the other boy.

"Go?" he asked whirling around to face him "you can't leave now; we're not even halfway through, after everything that happened with Nat you owe me this"

"I would but I'm supposed to –"

"You're supposed to stay here" Blaine cut in "and make sure that all this doesn't go to hell"

No matter how much Sebastian wanted to go spend time with Danielle he knew Blaine was right, after all he had slept with the guys girlfriend, lied about it and skipped town the least he could do was sit through a photo shoot.

"You're right" Sebastian told his friend "I've just got to make one call"

…..

Danielle was standing in line for tickets when Sebastian called.

"Hey" she greeted answering the call "you almost here?"

"Look I'm sorry but I can't make it tonight" he told her "I'm stuck at this photo shoot thing with Blaine and it's a long story, I just can't make it"

"That's fine" she lied, stepping out of the ticket line "I'll see you later"

"Are you sure?" Sebastian asked on the other end of the line.

"It's fine, really" she told him "I understand"

….

To no one's real surprise, except maybe Blaine, the photo shoot turned out great. Eleanor had actually told her son she was proud of him and Blaine seemed really happy. Everything seemed to be going great so Sebastian decided the next morning was the perfect time to call Danielle to reschedule his date with her.

"Hey" he greeted happily when she picked up her phone "I'm sorry about last night"

"Hey" she replied "me too"

"So I was thinking that we could try again tonight maybe?" Sebastian told her "we could go see a movie"

"I don't know" Danielle said on the other end, Sebastian was surprised, just last night she was all for them going to see a movie together "after our first date which ended with my brother's disaster and the other one which didn't even happen, maybe the whole you and I dating thing was just not meant to be"

"You're wrong" Sebastian was quick to say "and I'll prove it, just give me another chance, please?"

Danielle chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Only because you asked so nicely"


	5. Chapter 5: Daredevil

**Chapter Five: Daredevil**

Sebastian had been on quite a few dates in his time but this time it felt different. Danni wasn't some air headed heiress or high society party girl. This is Danielle Humphrey, daughter of an ex-rock star and a small time artist, Brooklyn dweller, sweet, loving, intelligent. She's special. She's probably never heard of the places he usually takes dates but then again he's probably never heard of anywhere she goes.

Erica's been helpful in a way, she's promised to talk to Jeremy about things that Danni might like but Jeremy's been preoccupied with preparing for Blaine's 'sleepover', sleepover being a code word for going out all night partying and drinking. Sebastian may have left out the drinking part out when explaining it to Danielle as a favour to Jeremy but he's sure the kid can look after himself.

"So where are you taking her?" her mother asked when she heard about the date.

"Somewhere special" he tells her. His mother smiled like she approved. But where was this somewhere special? He had no idea.

He catches up with Jeremy in the hallway of Saint Jude's on Friday, very aware of how fine he's cutting it, hoping he has some ideas.

"There's a diner she likes" he suggests "but I doubt it's the type of place you're looking for"

"Anything else?" he asks.

"Just make it fun" Jeremy says finally "and you could try quirky if you're willing"

Yeah. He still has no idea what he's going to do.

…

"So you're really going to Blaine Waldorf's sleepover thing, do you really think it's such a good idea?" Danielle asked from the other side of the slightly open roller door.

"I know you don't trust Blaine but trust me okay?" Jeremy called back "I'll be fine"

"Just don't do anything stupid okay?" she replied lifting up the roller door "what do you think?"

He takes in the red dress she's wearing and does know what to say. He's never been good with the whole fashion thing, ask him his opinion on something like film making and he'll be able to give you an answer but he know absolutely nothing about fashion. Sure he knew how to duplicate a few simple things on a sewing machine but that was only because of a need for his clothes to look expensive to fit in with the popular crowd.

"Why are you asking me?" he asked her.

"Because I don't have a sister" she shoots back "and because mom's over in Hudson, so I'm stuck with you"

"Oh wow don't I feel loved" he replied sarcastically "it looks fine"

"Fine?" she repeated "I need to look amazing, this is a date with Sebastian Van Der Woodsen we're talking about"

"Stop acting like he's so much better then you" Jeremy called to her as the roller door went down again "because he's really not"

She doesn't say anything in reply. A few moments later the roller door rolls up again and she steps back into his room. She's wearing some sparkly black number that in all honesty looks a little too attention seeking. He shakes his head and she sighs heads back into her room and pulls the door down again. The next time she steps out she's wearing a blue dress a bit more casual looking then the first two and he nods her head. She grinned and stepped back into her room leaving the roller door open this time.

"Don't get too excited about this date" he warned her.

"Why?" she asked, her smile dropping from her face.

"Never mind"

…..

He's not sure what he's expecting when he arrives at Humphrey's Brooklyn loft. Danni answers the door, she looks stunning, she always looks beautiful but tonight she looks extra stunning.

"You look amazing" he told her. She smiles widely, blushing.

"Thank you" she said "you look great, so where are we going?"

"It's a surprise" he replied.

….

He chooses this small cosy diner not far from her building, maybe it's the one Jeremy was talking but since he didn't tell him the name he doesn't know for sure. Her face practically lights up when she sees it and he knows she been there before. It's not really his style but she loves it and that makes him happy.

"I was afraid I was going to end up in some fancy restaurant on the Upper East side with more forks then I know what to with" she said with a laugh as they sat down "I guess you know me better than I thought or you've been talking to my brother"

"A little of both" he admitted.

…

The meal didn't take as long as Sebastian had expected and it was actually pretty early by the time they were ready to leave. Danielle must have noticed this too as she suggested heading to some bar she liked, it was in this bar that he learned that Danielle was a hell of a lot better at pool then he was.

"Game over" she declared after winning again "you lost _again_"

"Am I really that bad?" he asked her. She nodded, smiling widely at him. He was pretty sure he'd be willing to lose every time if she kept smiling like that at him.

"There aren't enough words to describe how bad you are" she teased

"Well maybe I was distracted" he argued. She frowned, screwing her face up in confusion.

"By what?" she asked, looking around, she quickly noticed that he was looking right at her "oh, me?"

He laughed taking a few steps towards her. She was a little shorter than him, so he leaned down so he could kiss her. They were a few centimetres apart when she jumped back.

"Sorry" she said tucking a lock of stray hair behind her ear before reaching into the pocket of her dress "my phone just vibrated, it surprised me"

She dug her still vibrating phone out and was surprised to see that the caller ID read 'dad'.

"It's my dad" she explained to Sebastian "I better take this; he knows I'm with you, he wouldn't call if it wasn't important"

Sebastian nodded in understanding although he really hated Rufus's timing and Danielle picked up her phone, she took a few steps away from the pool table leaving Sebastian to watch one side of the phone call.

"Hey" she greeted "what? No, no she's not"

She paused, listening to whatever her father was saying. Sebastian watched as she turned to him.

"Oh, Sebastian left his phone at the hotel?"

"What's up?" he asked. Danielle didn't answer.

"Yeah dad, he's standing right here with me" she said "we'll take of it"

She hanged up the phone and walked back towards Sebastian.

"Change of plans" she admitted. He groaned tipping his head back.

"No, no, I like this plan" he told her "you beating me at pool because you're so distracting come on what could be so important? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"It really can't" she admitted handing him her phone "you really need to call your sister now"

….

Danielle really did not like the fact that when they arrived at where Sebastian said they're siblings were she found it was a club, a club with a hell of a lot of alcohol, alcohol that his fourteen year old brother should not be touching.

"Can you see Jeremy or you sister anywhere?" she asked Sebastian.

"No" he admitted sadly.

"Are you him?" a strange guy snapped grabbing Sebastian arm "are you Blake?"

"No" Sebastian assured him and the other guy quickly stomped away.

They found Jeremy, Blaine and Erica all together when some girl begun yelling at Blaine about her phone, the guy who had grabbed Sebastian trailing behind her.

"I'm going to kill you!" the guy threatened stepping in front of Blaine.

"Oh, you must be the boyfriend" Blaine said with a small laugh "I've just got to say you've got really bad taste"

The guy lunged at Blaine, ready to attack.

"Hey back off!" Sebastian exclaimed pulling the guy back from Blaine.

"I don't need you to defend me!" Blaine snapped at Sebastian who just rolled his eyes.

At this point Jeremy stepped in from the sidelines.

"It wasn't even him who called you, it was me" he told the guy.

"Oh so you're the one with the tongue!" the guy snapped.

"Th…the tongue" Danielle stuttered "what are you even doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at a sleepover?"

"Sleepover" the guy scoffed "you made out with a guy from a sleepover!"

"You made out with this girl?" Danielle asked her brother who looked strangely proud of himself.

"No! I made out with this one" the girl stepped in pointing at Blaine who rolled his eyes.

"Ew, it was a dare"

"What are you children!" the guy snapped angrily.

"Kind of, he's fourteen" Danielle exclaimed nodding towards Jeremy.

"Fourteen!" the feuding couple both echoed.

"I had no idea!" the girl said in an attempt to defend herself "I mean look at him"

"Um, excuse me!" Danielle snapped ready to punch this girl.

"Danni!" Jeremy cut in "just stay out of this, you're making more problems then you're solving"

"No!" Danni snapped "we're not arguing about this, you're leaving and I'll drag you out of here if I have to"

Jeremy knew better than to argue and took lead stomping out of the club, followed by Danni, Sebastian and Erica.

….

"What were you thinking?" Sebastian asked Blaine when he and his minions joined them outside the club.

"She was bored" Blaine said as if that was justification enough "we just took her out for some fun"

"At a club!" Sebastian snapped at him.

"She didn't do anything wrong" Blaine argued "I thought you'd be happy"

"Well I'm not! I can't believe that you did this"

"Sebastian, I wasn't kidnapped" Erica pointed out, walking up from behind them "I left of my own free will, Blaine was trying to do me a favour"

"Well it was no favour Erica, you in a lot of trouble" Sebastian told her.

"Yeah I know and it was worth it" Erica admitted "to be out after dark and to talk to someone that wasn't just you or mom even if it was Blaine, no offence"

"None taken" Blaine assured her.

"Well I'm sorry this was the only way" he admitted "we'll work on mom okay?"

Erica nodded slowly.

"Thanks"

…..

"What is wrong with you?" Danni was asking her brother nearby "this isn't who you are?"

"And who are you right now?" he shot back "mom?"

She groaned running a hand through her hair.

"Okay, we're not doing this right now, we can do this at home" she told him "come on, let's go"

"I'm not going home" Jeremy said "I'm going with my friends"

As if he could hear them Blaine called out to him at this point.

"You coming Jeremy!"

"Yeah, one second!" he called back before turning to his sister "look, I know things got out of hand tonight and I also know you don't trust those guys but you've got to trust me, I'm not going to change just because I hang out with them, so please just let me go"

She groaned, rubbing at her forehead but nodded anyway.

"Fine"

Jeremy grinned and rushed off towards Blaine and Erica and Sebastian moved to stand where Jeremy just was.

"I've uh, got to take her back to the centre" Sebastian explained referring to his sister "so we better just call it a night"

"What, no, no I'll go with you" she told him.

"You don't have to" he assured her.

"I want to" she told him. Spending time with Sebastian was a rush she'd never experience before; she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

….

"Well I can see why your sister would want to leave that place" Danni admitted to Sebastian as they walked through the streets of New York together on the way back from the Ostroff centre "it was very depressing"

"And yet it was designed to treat depression" Sebastian said with a sigh.

"She's a good kid Erica, she's good" Danni told her, she would be happy if Jeremy and Erica became close.

"Yeah" Sebastian agreed with a nod "Jeremy's not so bad either"

"Yeah?" she questioned, Sebastian gave her a strange look "I mean I know, I just worry about him sometimes"

"Well worry looks cute on you" Sebastian told her, she chucked in reply.

"Look, I've seen him in action and my hunch is that he doesn't let himself get pushed into anything he doesn't want to do" he tried to assure her. He was sympathetic; he knew what it was like to worry about a sibling, god how he knew.

"I know" she told him with a nod "it's just he's never mentioned that his idea of a good Friday night was stumbling around bars with drunk Wall Streeter's"

"You know, it's okay to be friends with the people you got to school with"

"Why?" she asked "I'm not"

"Uh-huh" he told her "and if you made half the effort he did maybe we would've met a long time ago"

She laughed slightly, okay so he had a point there.

"And maybe I would've done this already"

He stepped in front of her and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers in a kiss, their first kiss.


	6. Chapter 6: A Handmaiden's Tale

**Chapter Six: **A Handmaiden's Tale.

Blaine was telling Sebastian his plans involving the upcoming masquerade ball, apparently the whole ball was going to be some kind of hunt for Nat and if she found Blaine by midnight when the masks came off she'd be able to claim her prize. When Sebastian asked what this prize was, Blaine merely waggled his eyebrows.

"You're bringing Danni right?" Blaine asked. Sebastian's smile quickly dropped, they hadn't even discussed the masquerade ball.

…..

"What's all this?" Danni asked once she saw all the boxes and bags her brother dragged into the house.

"Blaine's stuff for the masquerade ball" Jeremy explained "I'm hoping if I play errand boy Blaine will give me an invite, it's going to be amazing, I'm actually surprised Sebastian hasn't mentioned it yet"

Danni was surprised herself; she'd heard about the ball through some girls at school and had been waiting for Sebastian to bring the topic up but so far he hadn't mention anything about balls or even another date. It was kind of disappointing really.

"We don't have to do everything together" Danni shot back at her brother "we've only been out twice"

"Whatever" Jeremy said getting up from his chair, collecting the bags and boxes "I've got to drop this stuff off, bye"

After Jeremy left, her dad was onto her giving her a questioning look.

"What?" she asked "it's a masked ball; I'm sure he thinks I'd never go to something that pretentious"

….

"I'm sure she'd never go to something that pretentious" Sebastian tried to explain to Blaine "she'd have to wear a mask and a big fancy dress; it's really not her thing"

Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, she'd go anywhere with you if you asked" he said "or are you afraid she's already going with someone else, because seriously this is Danielle Humphrey we're talking about

"Shut up" Sebastian told him laughingly, hitting him lightly in the arm "I guess a masked ball would be better than a regular party because then all those kids from school that she hates: she won't even recognize them"

"Invite her" Blaine simply said picking up the nearby phone and waving it in his face.

…

"I'm not saying I wouldn't go if he asked" Danni admitted to her father "if he asked I wouldn't deprive him of my company"

"No because that would be cruel"' her father teased.

"But he hasn't asked" she explained. Her father stopped what he was doing and stood on the other side of the counter from where she standing.

"Look if you want to go to this thing with him make it happen, you're a Humphrey remember, since when do we sit around and wait for things to happen to us?"

"This thing happens in a matter of hours" she informed him "the window for bold gestures has officially closed"

Their conversation about the ball ended their as he phone rang.

"Is that him?" he dad asked. She shook her head once she read the caller ID.

"Um, no it's Van" she told him, her dad seemed as confused by this news as she did.

"Oh, that's been a while" he said "are you going to answer that?"

"Of course" she told Rufus "why wouldn't I?"

She took in a deep breath, psyching herself up for the phone call. She hadn't talked to Van for such a long time.

"Hey Van" she greeted picking up the phone.

"Hey" Van said on the other side of the line.

"So what's up? How's Vermont?" she asked.

"Do you still have my copy of 'The crying of lot 49'?" Van asked, skipping the small talk. She was caught off guard by his question; he calls her out of the blue to ask about some book he lent to him? Something seemed off.

"Um, I don't know" she admitted.

"Could you check?" he asked.

"Okay" she told him heading for her bedroom "I haven't talked to you in a year and you call to ask about some old book? It could be anywhere"

"Try over by the window" he said but this time the voice was coming from both the phone and someone in his room. She whirled around to find Van sitting on his window sill, grinning like a fool.

"Van!" she exclaimed.

"Surprise" he laughed hanging up his phone and jumping down off the window sill.

"Oh my god" she exclaimed as they hugged, he actually managed to lift her off the ground at one point.

"It's so good to see you" she told him once they pulled apart "what are you doing here?"

"My parents said I could live with my brother and finish high school in the city" he told her "I'm back, for good"

"Wow, um, wow" she said, she really couldn't think of much else to say, so much for being good with words "that is so-"

"Awesome?" Van suggested.

"Yeah, yeah it is" she assured him "it's just so unexpected…unexpectedly awesome"

Van just smiled wider, laughing a little. Her phone, the one that was still in her hand, begun to ring, she didn't pick it up straight away feeling as if it would be rude to Van. After all this was the first time they'd seen each other in a year.

"Answer it" Van told her "I'm starving and I can smell waffles"

She was glad she did answer it because it was Sebastian on the other end of the line.

"Sebastian, hi" she greeted.

"Hey" he replied there was a long pause and she was pretty sure she heard Blaine Waldorf say something in the background.

"Ah, I was just wondering if you're doing anything tonight?" he asked.

"Tonight, no, no nothing" she told him "why?"

"Good" he said "because there's this thing and you're probably going to think it's stupid but-"

"Try me" she said. She was feeling pretty confident that he was about to ask her to the masquerade ball and yes even though she did think it was stupid of course she would go with him.

"Even cold these are awesome" Van said appearing back in the doorway with a plate of waffles "I've missed Rufus's cooking"

"Who...who's that?" Sebastian asked. She was about to lie and tell him that it was Jeremy but she stopped herself, she didn't want to lie him. What would the point be?

"Oh an old friend dropped by unexpectedly" she told him "so, you were asking me something?"

"Oh yeah, there's this masquerade ball tonight" he started "I know it's probably not your thing but do you want to go with me?"

"Of course, it'll be fun" she told him "I don't think I really have a masquerade worthy outfit though"

"I can get your brother to drop off something after he's done running Blaine's errands, I'll pick you up at around 7?" he asked.

"See you then" she told him.

"See you then" Sebastian repeated before hanging up.

Van flopped down on her bed behind her.

"So what are we doing tonight?" he asked.

"Well, _I'm_ going to a ball" she said, she was a little proud of herself. Not long ago she didn't even hear about these things until after they happened and now Sebastian Van Der Woodsen wanted her to go with him. Things had really changed.

"_You're _going to a ball?" Van asked

…

"God, I love New York" Van commented as he and Danni walked through the streets together "I've missed this place and you and your dads cooking and Jeremy and did I tell you that I missed you?"

"Only twice in the same sentence" she teased laughingly.

"Sorry" he said calming down a little "it's just been a whole year since I've seen you, so is it weird having me back?"

"Um, why would it be weird?" she asked, rubbing at her forehead.

"Because you said some things the night I left-"

"Things you immediately told me to take back" she pointed out.

"Because I was leaving, now I'm here" he shot back.

"And it's been over a year" she reminded him "a lot has happened actually"

"And I look forward to hearing all about it" he said "but since you're ditching me for some pretentious ball with all your snobby classmates tonight we'll have to do it tomorrow"

…..

"Do you think this will be enough Eleanor's party?" his mother asked holding up the outfit she was planning to wear. It was obvious she wasn't really looking for an opinion just for him to tell her that it was okay. If she really wanted an opinion she would've asked someone who actually really cared about fashion.

"Maybe you should bring a goat?" he joked "you know how the Waldorf's love to go all out"

"Speaking of going all out" Lilly commented nodding down at the deep purple and gold dress sitting on his bed and the gold masquerade mask sitting on top.

"Oh yeah, that's Danni's" he explained "we're going to the ball together, I'm just waiting for her brother to come pick it up for her"

"Such a sweet girl isn't she" Lilly commented "not really your usual type"

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. His mother had shown nothing but dislike for Danni ever since they met and now she was calling her 'a sweet girl'. Something was fishy about the whole thing.

"I just would hate to see you break the poor girls heart when you wake up and realise this whole thing is never going to work out"

She didn't bother to explain herself, just simply smiled again and walked out of the room.

….

"Danni!" Jeremy called walking into the loft carrying his sister dress in front of him. Danni emerged from her bedroom, but she wasn't alone. Van Abrams followed her out. It was a shock to see him, the Abrams had moved away a year ago and he really didn't expect to see any of them again. Not that it wasn't a good thing to see him, it was just a shock.

"Look whose back" Danni said pointing at Van "just showed up this morning"

"Here" Jeremy told his sister handing her the dress before moving to hug Van.

"You could've given us a call first" Jeremy pointed out "we could've done something tonight"

"Don't tell me you have plans too?" Van said with a groan "let me guess you're going to this ball too?"

"Did you get an invite of Blaine?" Danni asked moving towards her bedroom with the dress probably to go try it on.

"Yeah" Jeremy lied. She didn't need to know he was planning on sneaking in, she was still a little angry about him because of the whole 'sleepover' thing. She worried about him too much; she didn't need to worry about him sneaking in too.

Danni stepped out of her room a few minutes later wearing the dress and holding the mask in her hand. He had to admit it look perfect on her, like it was made for her. Jeremy turned to watch Van; he always had a feeling that Van had some kind of romantic feelings for his big sister and it was practically confirmed by the way he was staring at Danni. He looked like he was in awe of her, like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It would've been funny if he was staring at anybody other than his sister because this was the same sister who was completely head over heels for Sebastian Van Der Woodsen. If Van acted on his feelings, and even if he didn't, somebody was going to get hurt.

….

"So what do you think?" Danni asked Sebastian when she opened the door to him "is this masquerade worthy?"

He nodded, kissing her quickly.

"You look great" he told her "but then again, you always do"

She scoffed but blushed anyway.

"You don't look so bad yourself" she told him, looking him up and down "very handsome"

"Why thank you dear maiden" he said bowing slightly, as he straightened up he noticed a figure that was standing several feet behind Danni, a figure that was definitely not Rufus or Jeremy. Danni caught on quickly, whirling around so quickly that he was afraid she was going to get tangled up in the long gown. She waved the figure over.

"Sebastian this is Van Abrams, the friend I was talking about before" she explained "and Van this is Sebastian Van Der Woodsen my uh-"

"Her date" Sebastian filled in "it's uh, a pleasure to meet you"

"Ah, yeah you too" he told him.

After they left hand in hand Van groaned and flopped down upon the sofa.

"That's _the_ Sebastian Van Der Woodsen isn't it? She was practically obsessed with the guy, I don't have a hope in hell do I?" he asked Jeremy.

"No, not really"

...

"Jeremy?" Sebastian asked in surprise upon seeing the younger blonde when he ducked into a bathroom. What was he doing here? He was definitely not invited he knew that for sure, not that he particularly care. Jeremy had done all that work for Blaine, he deserved to be here.

"You can't tell anyone I was here okay" he told him "not even Danni"

"Sure, sure" he assured him "hey can I ask you a question? Danni and that Van guy they have a history together don't they?"

"Well Van's Danni's best friend" Jeremy explained.

"But it's more than that isn't it?" Sebastian asked and from the look on Jeremy's face he knew he was right.

"A year ago there may have been some feelings on both parts but she's never liked a guy like she likes you" Jeremy said "I mean come on she's at a masked ball and I think she'd go basically anywhere with you except maybe the ice capades cause that really freaked her out when she was five"

"Yeah, yeah I think you're right"


	7. Chapter 7: VictorVictrola

**Chapter Seven:** Victor/Victrola

Danni spent her morning before school by the stairs; being pushed up against the bricks doing what could only described as making out with Sebastian Van Der Woodsen. She let out a groan as one of the bricks dug into her back.

"Ow, brick not comfortable" she complained.

"Here, here I'll take one for the team" he volunteered spinning them around so he was backed up against the brick instead.

"Ow, yeah I see what you mean not comfortable, I mean we pay all his money for private school the least they can do is give us a comfortable place to make out"

"Or better chemistry teachers, Mr Piezer is a little weird" she said before leaning in for another kiss but this time Sebastian pulled away, laughing.

"Wait you're thinking about Mr Piezer right now?" he asked.

"Well we are at school" she pointed out, he merely laughed again before resuming their make out session until a voice from the stairs above yelled: "get a room!"

"We could find a place more private" Sebastian suggested "our parents aren't always home"

"That's true" she agreed toying with Sebastian's blazer "they must eventually leave"

"Hmm, the only problem is waiting for eventually" he said, kissing her again.

She laughed a little when she pulled away after a while.

"What's the rush? It's not like this is so bad apart from the bricks and the –"she paused upon hearing laughing from above them, they both looked up to find Kade and Isaac snapping pictures with their phones "paparazzi" she finished.

"Bye" Sebastian said to them, practically waving them away. The two of them shrugged and continued heading up the stairs together.

Sebastian leaned into kiss her again but paused when the bell rang. He groaned pulling away.

"We should talk about this though" he told her "about us, about eventually….."

"Definitely" she told him.

"Or we could just get it over with in a broom closet" he joked, or at least she hoped it was a joke. He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her once more before dashing off for class with a quick goodbye.

…

"So I saw on Gossip Girl that you were having sex with Danni out here" Blaine commented teasingly as he and Sebastian sat on the steps together later that day "in streaming video"

"Oh god, Kade and Isaac filmed us?" he asked with a groan.

"It's all very High School Musical scandalous" Blaine teased "and no they haven't streamed it _yet, _but I heard it was…aggressive?"

"I must say she's been surprisingly good at everything we've done" he commented.

"Which is…everything?" he asked, repeating the eyebrow waggle from before the ball.

"Not yet" he admitted "haven't even talked about it yet"

"May I remind you that this is your first real girlfriend?" Blaine pointed out "and in relationships you talk about stuff"

"Well sometimes talking about or planning can ruin a good thing" he tried to explain "besides I think maybe she wants to slow things down"

…

She was nervous about the whole sex thing, she'd never done it before, never had anyone she wanted to have sex with and it was very obvious that Sebastian wasn't a virgin. What if she just so bad that she completely ruined thing? She'd fallen asleep not long after getting home from school and dreamt about receiving horrible scores on her sexual performance with Sebastian from Kade and Isaac, only to be woken by her father yelling into the phone.

"Did you sleep with him?" he was saying "tell me did you or did you not sleep with him?"

"Yes Allison I encouraged you to do your paintings not the next door neighbour" he continued. She left her room just in time to see him hang up the phone. He looked up as her door squeaked open.

"Oh Danni, I didn't realise you were home, I'm sorry you had to hear that" he told her. Yeah so was she.

"Well, I did" she replied "something about mom and a neighbour?"

Neither of them noticed Jeremy walked in through the front door; he paused upon hearing Danni's comment.

"It's uh complicated" her dad tried to explain.

"Mom's having an affair; it's easy when you say it"

He sighed, looking down at the phone in his hand before looking back up at her.

"Not to your daughter"

"She's not exactly rushing back to us, it's good to know why" she told him. At this point Jeremy decided to make his presence shown, shutting the door behind him and calling out to them.

"What's going on dad?" he asked.

"Nothing" he lied "I'm just going to get some groceries"

"Danni?" he tried, hopefully she could at least trust Danni to tell her the truth.

"I'm sorry, I've got a lot of homework" she told him before ducking back in her room. He was disappointed; when dad lied or tried to sugar coat things he could usually trust Danni to give him the reality, apparently not this time.

….

As soon as the loft was empty, which happened to be early the next morning, she called Sebastian and asked him to come over, she didn't really know where this sudden burst of courage was coming but she was thankful for it.

"I can't believe we actually got the apartment to ourselves" Sebastian said as Danni flopped down onto her bed and he leaned over her.

"You got downtown pretty fast" she commented, she was actually a little scared by how fast he got there.

"Well with an opportunity like this one needs to take advantage of it" he explained, leaning down to kiss her, he pulled away after a moment "how long are your brother and dad going to be out for?"

"Anywhere between twenty minutes and an hour" she told him. He grinned, kissing her again.

"Twenty minutes is all we need"

All the courage from before was gone. It wasn't that she didn't want to do this, she just was so damn nervous about it. Sebastian had experience, she knew that and she didn't, not at all.

"It's really bright in here isn't it?" she asked when Sebastian pulled away once again "maybe I should get blinds"

"I think it's fine" Sebastian commented with a smile before rolling them over so she was on top.

"Hey Danni!" Van called, using his usual route of just climbing in through her window "you hungry?"

Sebastian moved to sit; accidently throwing her off and she went tumbling off the side of the bed.

"Oh" Van said when he realised what he'd just interrupted.

"Van right?" Sebastian asked "it's good to see you"

"Good to see you too" Van said, even though it was pretty obvious that it really wasn't.

"Good to see you" Danni chimed in, straightening her shirt "seeing us, seeing you"

Sebastian held out his hand to help Danni up, she gratefully took it and stood up.

"Excuse me" she told him before herding Van towards the door.

"You've really got to start using the door" she told him once they'd left her bedroom.

"Which you're showing me to right now"

"Well practice makes perfect" she said jokingly.

"I'm leaving okay, out the door I go" he told her pulling open the door to the Humphrey residence and slipping outside.

"I – we appreciate it, thank you" she called out to him.

….

"Do you think we should talk about it?" he asked when she sat back down on the bed beside him. He was thinking about what Blaine had said earlier in the day, maybe he was right.

"About Van?" she asked "he's like family, it's comfortable so he often just drops in without calling"

"No, no about what just almost happened" he said.

"Oh, if Van hadn't stopped by?" she asked "if he hadn't interrupted the, um, the uh-"

"Or we could not talk about it?" he suggested with a grin, leaning back down to kiss her. She's pretty sure it would've gone a lot further if her father and Jeremy did not arrived at that moment, calling out to her to announce their presence.

…

She'd always been the type to research things if she needed help and sex was no different. She was in the middle of watching some of this research when Van just walked right into her room. She quickly pressed pause on the video and closed her laptop screen.

"You know people do this thing where they curl their fingers into a first and with several thrusts of force they know, maybe you should give it a go?" she told him. Van rolled his eyes and sat down next to her on her bed.

"Hey I didn't use the fire escape this time, baby steps" he pointed out, he leaned over her picking up the DVD she'd been watching as research "why are you watching porn?" he asked.

"It's not porn, it's art cinema" she tried to argue tucking the DVD under her pillow.

"Well" Van started "from what I saw earlier you don't need to be doing research"

"Okay, I cannot talk to you about this" she told him running a hand through her hair.

"What's with the change in attitude?" Van asked "because you once said, and I quote 'sex is meaningful, like art and you don't rush art'"

"That was in 2005, I was much more idealistic back then and you know there wasn't an actual guy who wanted to have sex with me"

"You're going to lose your virginity" Van stated, she was surprised by the fact that he sounded rather disappointed by this knowledge.

"It'll be fine" Van said obviously noticing her discomfort "I'm sure Sebastian will know what to do what with all his experience with boarding school professors and you know best friend's girlfriends"

"Okay, okay you're leaving now" she told him helping him off the bed and directing him towards the door. He paused at her bedroom door, holding onto her wrist.

"Look, I know you Danni and I know you'd want it to be special just don't get so distracted by the fact that this is Sebastian Van Der Woodsen and forget that okay?"

…..

She had another dream. This time she was watching Sebastian and Nat go at it, asking them questions as they did so. She awoke with a start when her dad knocked on her door; she ran her hands over her face feeling more stressed about this whole thing than ever.

"Hey I'm heading to the gallery to test run a twenty four hour installation, Van and Jeremy will be there, do you want to come?" he asked.

"Uh twenty four hours is a long time to be working straight, so I'll think I'll just chill here" she told him.

"Alone on a Saturday night?" he asked. Why did he sound so surprised, it wasn't like she went out all too much.

"Or with your boyfriend?" he added. God sometimes she hated that he could read her like that.

"Dad, we've had the talk already remember?"

"Do you need a refresher?" he asked in his best 'stern dad' voice. She shook her head; it was bad enough the first time. He sighed and nodded.

"Okay just be safe don't do anything you're not ready to do" he warned.

….

Sebastian took a little longer to arrive at the loft then last time but this time he was holding a shopping bag in his hand. She cocked her head to side in confusion upon seeing it. He saw this and smiled a little.

"Just give me a second to set something up okay?" he asked and she nodded opening the door to her room for him before sitting down at the kitchen counter, wondering what the hell he was doing in there.

He stepped out of the room a few minutes later and beckoned her over. He put his hands over her eyes as a blindfold before opening the door again. They stepped inside together and he dropped his hands from her eyes. The room was covered in candles, creating a dull glow. It was almost magical, it was definitely special.

"I know it's probably a fire hazard but –"

"It's perfect" she cut in because it really was. It wasn't how she imagined it but it was perfect in its own perfectly special way.


	8. Chapter 8: Seventeen Candles

**Chapter Eight: **Seventeen Candles

He'd ended up spending the night at her place as Rufus and Jeremy weren't supposed to be home until much later. It was nice, it made the whole thing feel real. He'd never been the stay the night type of guy mostly due to the fact that he'd never really met a girl he wanted to spend the night with. But here he was lying in Danielle Humphrey's bed, holding her close and it just felt right, like he could lay here for the rest of his life and let all of his trouble melt away. Danni made him feel like a better person. She was one of the only people he knew that looked at him liked he wasn't just girlfriend stealing trouble. There were a few times, when they were alone, that she looked like at him liked he was something absolutely wonderful, like she was so lucky to have him and he knows that the opposite is true but just the one look made him feel like he could start over, be better.

They ended up leaving the loft for breakfast and heading to a café. They'd tried to keep their hands off each but found themselves unsuccessful and ended up making out at their table, only to be interrupted by Van Abrams, again. The guy seems nice enough and all but Sebastian really wishes he would stop being such a moment killer.

"Hi" he greeted walking over to their table.

"Hi" Danni said in return, she looked down at the apron wrapped around his waist "so you work here now?"

"Yep" he said with a nod "I did mention that but you've been distracted lately, it's nice to see you again Sebastian"

"Hmm, you're seeing less of me this time" he said. Danni was pretty sure he was only half joking.

"Yeah, sorry about that walking in on you when you were you know…." Van told them.

"It's fine" Sebastian told him, Danni nodding in agreement beside him.

Van noticing the evident awkwardness went for a change of subject.

"So, you're up early" he commented "what did you do last night?"

Danni's eyes went wide and she shook her head, mouthing 'no' to him. Apparently his change of subject didn't really change the subject at all.

"I didn't mean to pry" he tried to explain.

"You're not prying" Danni assured him.

"No, why would you think you were prying?" Sebastian asked, an idea forming in his head as he turned to Danni "did you tell him?"

"No" she was quick to say, eyes going wide again "why would I?"

"I don't know anything" Van told him "but if you guys did the thing I know nothing about well then I would totally support that"

"Thanks Van" Danni told him sarcastically "good to know"

"Yeah, I'm going to go" Van told them "first day, lots of tables, you know?"

Both Sebastian and Danni took a quick look around the room, apart from the employee's they were the only ones in there.

….

Danielle headed straight back to the loft after breakfast with Sebastian and was very surprised to see her mother sitting at the table with her father and brother eating waffles together just like they all used to before.

"Hi honey" her mother greeted.

"Well look at this, the whole families together" she commented bitterly "eating waffles"

"Want one?" Jeremy asked. He was smiling like the cat who got the cream.

"Sure" she told him and he moved to stand up "just one question" Jeremy sat down again "am I the only one who thinks this is _extremely _weird, given everything"

"Danni, just forget about it" Jeremy said "if dad can let it go so can you"

"What do you mean let it go?" their father asked.

"You know the guy in Hudson" he hesitantly told them.

"You told him!" she snapped at her mother. The last thing Jeremy needed was to know that their mother was sleeping with a neighbour in Hudson.

"No, of course not" she shot back, before turning to their father "Rufus?"

"I would never" he argued

"I overhead Danni and dad talking" Jeremy explained.

"She overhead us talking on the phone" Rufus added.

"Yeah if you want to keep secrets maybe we should all abandon the loft and move to a place with more walls" Danni added, the bitterness a little more obvious this time. She headed into her room, unwilling to deal with anymore family drama, closing the door a little too loudly.

…

It wasn't long before she heard footsteps behind her. She thought it would Jeremy ready to chew her out for not being nice to their mother. Jeremy had always been idealistic like that; he always thought that their parents could work everything out if they tried hard enough.

"Hey" her mother said. She dropped the book she'd been reading and turned to face her.

"Can we talk?" her mother asked.

"Well that depends" she told her "are you back for good?"

"I don't know" her mother admitted "your father and I haven't really had a chance to talk"

"Well do you want to come back?" she asked, not a hundred precent sure if she wanted to hear the answer "or do you want to stay in Hudson with neighbour guy?"

Alison sighed, wringing her hands together.

"Look Danni I know you're mad at me and I'm not going to defend what I did" she said sitting on the end of Danni's bed.

"You don't get it do you? You think I'm only mad about the cheating"

Alison tensed up when her daughter mentioned her cheating. She'd never wanted to hear anyone say that to her, let alone her only daughter.

"Okay what else?" she asked.

"Maybe that you promised that you be home by the end of summer and then you weren't or maybe the fact that you left at all"

"I asked if you were okay with me going away and I hoped that if there was a problem you would say something" Alison tried to explain.

"Like what?" she asked "your son is a freshman at a school populated by drunken idiots and date rapists, I think he needs his mom? Or my father is madly in love with you and will probably never get over this?"

She sighed in frustration, getting up from her chair.

"Why should I have to tell you this?" Danni snapped leaving the room, grabbing her coat on the way out.

"Where are you going?" Rufus asked as she walked past him.

"Out, I'll call later"

…..

"So where's Nat?" Sebastian asked over sushi later that night at Blaine's birthday party.

"Oh she'll be here" Blaine said quickly, looking down at his food "is Danni coming?"

"Last time we talked she was but I haven't seen her since this morning" he told him. They'd talked about the whole making out at Van's workplace incident when Sebastian had stopped by the Waldorf penthouse after breakfast. Blaine seemed to be of the opinion that Van had more than friendly feelings about his best friend.

"Well you better check on that, for all you know the best friend could be whisking away for some friendly activities" Blaine teased.

….

After leaving the loft she'd gone straight to the café where Van worked, she needed to talk to someone that knew her family and while it was difficult talking to him while he was supposed to be working it was really just what she needed.

"Thanks for letting me talking to you about my family issues all afternoon" she told him as they left after Van finished up. He nodded and turned to her, smiling slightly.

"It's okay" he told her "your families one of the good ones and your parents really love each other, they'll work it out and in the meantime you've got me"

She smiled back at him. Her phone in the pocket of her jack begun to vibrate with a text message, she quickly dug it out and opened it.

It was from Sebastian:

_Were here_

_C u soon?_

Oh, Blaine's party. She'd completely forgotten about it with all the family stuff going on.

"I'm supposed to meet up with Sebastian" she told him.

"Oh, have fun" he said after a moment.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"I thought _we _weren't doing anything"

"I like Sebastian and I like you and he likes me and you like me so how can you not like each other? It's mathematically impossible" she said, okay so maybe the math was a little off but the point was still there.

"I never said I didn't like him" Van argued "I just don't know him"

"Yeah and you're making a real effort" Danni quipped sarcastically as they reached Van's Vespa "I mean why spend five minutes being nice to Sebastian when I can spend day after day forced to choose between the two of you"

"Okay fine" he said "you want to see me get my nice on? Let's do it tonight, just you, me and Sebastian"

He pushed a helmet into her hands.

"Ah tonight, tonight is Blaine Waldorf's birthday party" she tried to explain "I think we might want to start by dipping a toe in rather than diving off a cliff, headfirst, into the rocks with the sharks"

"Why?" he asked "we all know how to swim"

….

Sebastian was excited to see Danni walked in through the door, after last night he was looking forward to spending time with her. He was however not so excited to see Van trailing along behind here.

"Danni, you're here" he said walking over to her, he paused upon seeing Van behind here "and you brought Van, it's nice to see you again, um" he paused turning to Blaine's friends standing behind him "Kade and Isaac you know Danni right?" they both merely nodded their hello "uh, Blaine this Danni's friend Van" Blaine just waved.

"Wow, you didn't mention they were so nice" he muttered to Danni sarcastically "now I get it"

"You did not tell me he looked like that, you've got a serious problem" Blaine whispered to Sebastian.

….

"So, you brought Van as your date to Blaine's party?" Sebastian questioned later when he finally got Danni alone; Van had pretty much stuck to her side most of the night. He had tried to talk to her earlier on but Van never seemed to leave.

"You're my date" she assured him "I just thought this would be a good opportunity for all of us to hang out"

Yeah, because it was so fun and not remotely awkward at breakfast this morning" he pointed out sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Okay you're right I actually thought this would be a very bad opportunity for us to hang out" she admitted "but I kind of suggested to Van that he wasn't making enough of an effort to get to know you, so he decided to start tonight, if it's weird I can go talk to him?"

"No, no" he said, reaching across to hold her hand "look, tell me something he likes, apart from you, and I will make an effort to bond"

She grinned at him. That's all she really wanted. They didn't have to be best friends or anything but as long as they got along she would be happy.

"Thank you" she told him just as Van reappeared from behind Danni.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"Ever play guitar hero?" Sebastian asked.

…

Van turned out to be surprisingly good at guitar hero and the crowd that had gathered around them seemed to love it as they just kept cheering louder and louder. Van finished his game and turned to face them all, a cocky smile on his face.

"Oh you were owned!" Isaac chimed in.

"Yeah you went down hard" Kade added.

"You're good Van, I'll admit that" he told him taking the guitar shaped controller from him "but I've been holding back until now"

This time he went all in, he'd had a lot of practice at the game and was damn good at it.

"Who got owned now!" he exclaimed when he finished, facing the crowd and bowing.

"Well I'm bringing desserts" Van declared taking the control back "I'm thinking a little 'cherry pie'"

"No pie! I beg you" Danni said, pulling a face as if the very song would make her sick.

"Oh come on there's nothing like a little 80's hair metal to put a smile on your face" Van argued "after the day you've had"

Sebastian stopped in his tracks after hearing this.

"The day you've had, what kind of day have you had?"

"You haven't told him?" Van asked in surprise.

"No, not yet" she admitted, she had been planning to tell him, but she'd been talking to Van about this all day she just hadn't had the chance "it's uh kind of been an odd day in the Humphrey loft, Jeremy brought my mom home"

"Your mom's back?" he asked. He looked disappointed by the fact that she hadn't told him and just walked away. Danni chased after him and they ended up standing in the bedroom. Sebastian turned around, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why didn't you tell me your mom came home?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, I really am" she told him.

"You didn't think it was important?" he asked "why bother, you already told Van"

"I tell Van everything" she tried to explain "I have since I was six"

"Well you're not six anymore Danni, I was just – I was hoping that I would be the one you'd want to tell this stuff to now"

"This whole dating thing is very new to me" she told him "I don't know all the rules yet"

"I just don't want to compete with Van" he explained "with guitar hero, yeah okay because I'm awesome if you haven't noticed" they shared a small laugh "but not with you"

"That's fair, tomorrow we'll go somewhere, just the two of us, and we can talk about my family in excruciating detail"

"Sounds good" he said, smiling at her before closing the gap between them with a kiss.

…..

Gossip girl struck later that night, posting a picture of Nat and a mysterious blonde boy hugging. Kade and Isaac being the loyal minions they were were all ready to plot some type of revenge against Nat and whoever this blonde boy was for cheating on Blaine.

"She didn't cheat on my okay" Blaine interrupted "we broke up" he sucked in a deep breath stomping off towards the bedroom Danni and Sebastian had been in earlier that night "I just want to be alone" he explained.

Sebastian was worried about his friend, he and Nat had been together for years. Everyone thought they were going to be married on day, including Blaine.

….

"Hey, is your friend alright?" Van asked him later. He wasn't surprised that he saw what happened; everyone did, only adding to Blaine's pain.

"Yeah, bad breakup" Sebastian explained with a not twisting the bottle he'd just picked up around in his hands.

"Hey if I've been acting however I've been acting it's just because I'm protective of Danni" Van told him. Sebastian understood where he was coming from; they'd been friends for so long, as long as that's all they were, friends.

"And I'm protective of our relationship" Sebastian said "I've never uh really had one before, you guys have everything in common and I'm just getting to know her and it's just a little intimidating you know?"

Van nodded his understanding.


	9. Chapter 9: Blaine Waldorf must pie!

**Chapter Nine: **Blaine Waldorf must pie!

_Thanksgiving – One Year Ago_

"Who gets wasted on Thanksgiving!" Blaine Waldorf exclaimed physical pushing his so called best friend out the door and onto the street.

"The holidays are lonely for some people, I wanted to keep them company" he said laughing for absolutely no reason, stumbling around on the footpath.

"Your mom is freaking out which means my mom is freaking out-" he tried to explain grabbing his friend by the upper arm in a hope to calm him down.

"Which means you freak out? Cut the cord, go nuts" his eyes lit up with a sudden idea "let's do shots!"

"I told Lilly you were buying a pie" he snapped as Sebastian tried to shove the both of them back the other way "have you got everything, where's your wallet?"

"Oh, my wallet" Sebastian said sheepishly, it was obviously still inside. Blaine groaned.

"You stay here okay?" he told him "I'm gonna go look, don't drink or hit on anything"

Across the street Danielle Humphrey was leaving a store with the pies that the Humphrey thanksgiving was missing. She was on the phone to her mother, cheerfully telling her that their pie crisis was averted but had to hang up when she spotted Sebastian Van Der Woodsen stumbling across the street. He was definitely not sober and was almost hit by several cars.

"Oh god" she muttered before dashing out onto the road and pulling him out of the way of an oncoming taxi that didn't look like it was going to stop. She felt like a hero but it was a pity her pies had to be crush because of this.

She looked away from the taxi and her pies to see Sebastian stumbling away again.

"Hey, hey excuse me!" she called out to him, grabbing his arm to stop him when she reached him "do you need like a crossing guard or like a cab maybe?"

Apparently he didn't need her help getting a cab because somehow he managed to flag one down and it pulled to a stop beside them.

"Oh, pie" Sebastian said walking to the front of the cab and looking down at the remains of the pie's Danielle had just brought, so apparently the Humphrey's were going to have a pie free Thanksgiving this year after all.

"More like road kill now" she noted "but better it then you, right?"

Sebastian turned around slowly and just stared at her.

"I'm Danielle, Danielle Humphrey" she said sticking out her hand for him to shake, which he did with a large dopey smile on his face. It was kind of nice actually even if she was sure he was drunk.

"We met last year" she told him "you might not remember, you probably don't"

Danni was very aware of the fact that nobody seemed to ever remember her, so why should Sebastian Van Der Woodsen been any different. After all she'd been going to school with Natalie Archibald and Charlotte Bass for years and they still accused her off stalking them when they saw her at school.

"You need to be more careful" she said. Blaine Waldorf appeared at this moment, just her luck really.

"And you need to back off" he snapped at her "trying to take advantage of him on the holidays"

He started dragging Sebastian towards the waiting cab.

"Bye Darla!" he called, laughing as he got in.

"Bye" she replied. What did it matter that he completely messed up her name and would probably never remember her or her life-saving or her road kill pies, Sebastian Van Der Woodsen had talked to her. They had an actual conversation. She was pretty much on top of the world.

_Thanksgiving – Present day._

"Big national holiday, you excited?" Danni asked Sebastian when he called her that day.

"Actually I am" he admitted "might be the first Thanksgiving in a while I actually remember"

"Yeah I bet" Danni muttered straightening her skirt, remembering their encounter last Thanksgiving.

"Huh?" he asked. Whoops she hadn't meant for him to hear that part.

"Nothing" she told him "you almost at Blaine's?"

"Yeah" he replied "it's the first time his dad will be home since he left and he's really excited"

"Ah family reunions all around then" she said "we too have a full Humphrey household, hopefully it will stick"

"Well it seems like your mom's really trying" Sebastian pointed out.

"Better Thanksgiving then never right" she said tugging on the sleeve of her shirt with her free hand.

"Call me between every course?" he asked on the other end of the line.

"Okay" she told him. She probably would've done it if he hadn't asked; she could really use the escape that talking to Sebastian gave her. He was right, her mother was trying but it just wasn't the same, she was trying to just paint over the cracks but they were still there, just not as visible as they were.

….

"It's our first holiday back, I want it to be special" her mother was saying, wrapping her arms around her father.

"I think that's called guilt" Danni cut in and Alison's smile quickly left her face and she pulled away from Rufus.

"Yeah, yeah I guess it is" Alison admitted brushing some hair away from her face with her hand.

"Well if it means more midnight turkey sandwiches for us then so be it" Rufus declared.

"Yes Danni, we on this side of the kitchen choose to be positive" Jeremy added.

"Yeah Danni" her father said jokingly pointing the knife he was using at her "what's it going to be?"

She held up her hands in mock surrender, smiling a little. It almost felt like everything was back to normal.

"Fine I'm in" she told them "as long as I get to take the cranberry sauce out of the can that is my specialty"

Her father smiled tossing the can opener to her.

….

"Have to find this recipe before my dad gets home" Blaine was saying carrying the recipe box with him.

"Ah Harold Waldorf's famous pumpkin pie" Sebastian said. It had been a staple at every Waldorf thanksgiving that he could remember.

"Well it may have been Bobby Flay's but that didn't stop my dad from taking credit" Blaine said laughing slightly. It was nice to see him so happy after everything that went down at his birthday party.

"You're very chipper today" Sebastian stated.

"I'm in a good mood; it happens" was his explanation "sometimes because I increase my Lexapro dosage, sometimes because my dad's in town"

"And sometimes because things are good with a girl" he pointed out "did you get back together with Nat"

"No" Blaine told him.

"What's Chuck doing today?" he asked hoping he was being subtle. He'd seen them getting hot and heavy in the bedroom Blaine had been hiding in at his party when he went to check on them.

"Why are you asking me?" Blaine asked.

"Well you guys are friends" he pointed out "you know you can tell me anything right? I'd be the last person to judge anyone"

"With good reason" Blaine frostily shot back, all traces of previous excitement and happiness disappearing from his face. Sebastian own smiles dropped too.

"Blaine I saw you with Chuck" he told him.

Blaine sighed, rubbing at his forehead.

"I don't know what I was thinking; sleeping with her once maybe I could understand, but twice?"

"Wait you slept with her?" Sebastian asked "Blaine!"

"What happened to no judging!" he snapped.

"I'm not" he assured him "I thought you were all for waiting"

"Oh so Nat gets the free pass and I'm the slut?" Blaine asked.

"Tell me you didn't sleep with her for revenge" Sebastian said.

"Well it wasn't because I like the way she smells, besides nothing hurts more than sleeping with the best friend right?" he asked staring pointedly right at him.

"Way to prove a point" Sebastian snapped standing up and heading for the door.

"Well I learned from the master" Blaine said. He spun around to face him.

"If you're sleeping with Charlotte, I'd say the student's become the master" he said angrily.

"What, jealous that you didn't get to sleep with her first?" Blaine said "there had to be somebody left on the Upper East Side"

He's pretty sure things would've continued this way until someone threw a punch if Eleanor Waldorf didn't walk into the room at that moment.

"Sebastian, do you know when your mother is arriving?" she asked him.

"She's not" he told her and Eleanor smile fell "were not doing Thanksgiving here anymore"

"Oh?" she said in surprise "why?"

"Because I uninvited them" Blaine chimed in looking rather happy with himself.

"Happy holidays Eleanor" he told her before leaving the Waldorf penthouse, wondering what the hell were they going to do for Thanksgiving?

…..

The only shops open on Thanksgiving were the ones in Chinatown so that's where the Van Der Woodsen family found themselves that day, walking along the streets hoping to find something that they could eat for a Thanksgiving dinner.

"Mom, I know it's my fault that we're here but let's not get crazy" Sebastian told her, as their mother surveyed the streets.

"Well I don't know what you're complaining about" Lily replied "I'm just trying to provide my family with a home cooked meal"

There was just one problem with this plan.

"Mom, you don't know how to cook" Erica pointed out.

"Don't blame me, talk to your brother, he's the one that got us exiled from the Waldorf's" Lily said.

"I'm sorry" Sebastian told them.

"And even if you could cook, we don't have an oven" Erica said.

Okay so maybe there was two problems with the plan.

"Preaching to the converted Erica" their mother replied "look we'll just pick up a few things and try to make do"

"Peaking duck on Thanksgiving?" Erica asked pointing to the row of ducks hanging in the nearby window.

"Hmm, not a bad idea" Lily said.

"No, mom" Sebastian told her.

"All of the other shops are closed" Lily reminded him "there's nothing wrong with having Chinese food on Thanksgiving, Jews have been doing it on Christmas since forever" she paused in front of some pumpkins "look isn't this festive?" she asked picking one up .

"A pumpkin for Thanksgiving?" Sebastian asked taking it from her, only to pass it off to Erica when his phone rang. He smiled when he saw Danni's name on the caller ID and answered it.

"Hey so you couldn't get make it past the salad?" he asked her.

"I opened the cranberry sauce, my job is done" she told him "how's the Waldorf's?"

"I wouldn't know, Blaine kind of gave me the boot" he admitted

"H-he kicked you out of his house?" she asked in surprise "what happened now?"

"Ah, don't ask" he really didn't want to go throw the whole Blaine sleeping with Charlotte for revenge thing again "but the good news is my mom is gonna slice us up a pumpkin, oh and there's duck" he added sarcastically.

"No, you can't eat duck and raw pumpkin on Thanksgiving" she said turning around to look at the large amount of food behind her, an idea forming in her mind "you know what? I'm the guardian of Van's brother's van for the weekend and we here at the Humphrey manor have an oddly large kitchen table…"

"What are you suggesting?" Sebastian asked.

"Come here, bring the whole family" Danni told him "it'll be great"

When he got off the phone with Danni his mother was leaning over and smelling something he didn't quite recognize.

"This smells great" she was saying.

"Yes, so we can starve in a fragrant hotel room" Erica said, her sarcasm oh so very obvious.

"We're not going to starve" Sebastian told them "I got us into this mess I'll get us out of it"

"Elaborate Sebastian" his mother instructed.

"Thanksgiving at the Humphrey's?" he suggested "Danni invited me and Erica's friends with his brother and his dad's really cool"

"Awesome!" Erica chimed in "I'm leaving the pumpkin"

"What do you say mom?"

…

_Thanksgiving – One year ago_

Sebastian who had ended up at the Waldorf penthouse was sitting at one of their tables, shoving mashed potatoes into his face with the serving spoon. He turned it towards Blaine who merely laughed a little and pushed it away.

"Found it!" Harold Waldorf called walking into the room with the dish he'd been looking for "sou chef, you're needed"

"Ready and awaiting orders" Blaine called cheerfully moving to join his father in the kitchen, Sebastian waggling the spoon at him as he left.

"I see we have extra help" Harold noted nodding at Sebastian.

"Yes, Sebastian's spending Thanksgiving with us this year" Blaine explained.

Sebastian turned in his seat and waved at the both of them.

"Ah, the more the merrier" he told him "happy to have you"

"The canapés were a great success" Eleanor Waldorf commented walking into the room, plate in hand, she stopped by her son "I saved one for you Blaine"

"I'm not really hungry" he told her.

"Well, what does that mean, you're not really hungry?" Eleanor asked.

"I had like fifteen of them when dad first made them" he assured her heading back to a hopefully sobering Sebastian.

"Fifteen?" Eleanor echoed.

"Sebastian" Blaine hissed as his now almost asleep friend tugging on his coat. Sebastian who'd had his head on the table moments before sat up.

"Hey!" Natalie Archibald called in greeting arriving at the Waldorf residence.

"Hello, happy Thanksgiving" Eleanor replied with a smile kissing her on each cheek.

"You too" Natalie told her, hugging her lightly. Once she pulled back Eleanor headed out to join the other guests.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Nat asked, wrapping her arm around Blaine.

"Nothing" Harold told her "but you're about to witness the return of sober Sebastian"

Sebastian squealed Nat's name before jumping up and pulling her into a bear hug.

"Maybe not" Harold said "honey, take him upstairs, put him in the bath before your mother gets wind of the whole situation"

"What and leave you alone?" he asked "Thanksgiving is our thing, Nat will you please take care of him, please?"

"Alright" Nat agreed herding Sebastian towards the stairs, arm around his back.

…

_Thanksgiving – Present Day_

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay with you?" Erica asked her mother, pulling on her coat. Their mother who claimed to not be feeling well was curled up on the sofa with a book.

"Yeah, we don't want to leave you if you're not feeling well" Sebastian told her.

"No, you kids have fun I don't have an appetite anyway" she told them, patting her son on the arm.

There was a knock on the door and Sebastian jumped up to answer it.

"It must be Danni" he told them. He swung the door open only to receive an employee with a cart full of food.

"Room service" the man called.

"No, no sir" Sebastian told him "you must have the wrong room"

"Ah, no you're early" Lily called in frustration from the sofa, dropping her book "I lied"

"Mom!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"All I care about is that you two are together, I don't want to be an imposition" Lily explained moving to the room service cart.

Just at this moment Danni arrived knocking on their door frame to get their attention.

"Girl with van at your service" she told them with a grin and a bow.

"Hey" Sebastian greeted as Danni walked into the room. When she was standing next to him, he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Hey" she told him, before turning to his mother "bold choice of attire Mrs Van Der Woodsen" she said looking down at the robe she was wearing "unless that's what they're wearing on the runways these days"

"Mom was pretending to be sick because she'd thought she be an imposition" Sebastian explained.

"I am fine just curling up and reading a good book" Lily tried to assure them.

"You're supposed to be with your family on Thanksgiving" Erica pointed out.

"Yeah and –" Danni said twisting her head to see the book "Nicholas Sparks is hardly family"

Sebastian shot her his best begging face.

"I'm not taking no for an answer, in fact I'm not even asking" Danni told her "I'm adult-napping you"

Lily sighed putting her book down.

"Fine, if you just stop talking I'll go get changed"

…..

"Hey, we're here!" Danni called entering the loft, Sebastian and Erica by her side, Lily trailing along behind them.

"You're lucky you made it while the turkey's still hot" Alison told them, smiling upon seeing them.

"Mom, this is Sebastian" Danni introduced "and this is his sister Erica"

Sebastian smiled at her and shook her hand.

"It's so nice to meet you both" Alison told them

"Nice to meet you too" the Van Der Woodsen siblings chorused.

"And this is their mother" Danni finished "Lily"

You could practically cut the tension in that room with a knife. Danni hoped she wasn't the only one that saw this, both Alison and Lily froze upon seeing each other.

"Happy Thanksgiving" Lily finally said.

…..

_Thanksgiving – One year ago._

"Just in time" her mother noted as Danni stepped back into the loft, closing the door behind here "but I thought you were going to bring pie"

"I was" Danni told them, unwrapping her scarf from her neck "but it kind of got run over by a taxi, as I was trying to help this guy stay out of traffic"

She slipped off her jacket and flopped down onto the nearby armchair swinging her legs over the armrest.

"Ah who needs desert when we have a real life hero in our midst" her mother said "did you hear?" she asked Jeremy "your sister just saved a guy's life"

"I thought you had to be near a guy for that to happen" Jeremy teased looking up from the carrots he was grating.

"Not just any guy" she informed him "_the _guy"

"Oh you mean the blond you stalk in school?" Jeremy asked.

"Just the one!" Danni replied. Jeremy had noticed her crush on Sebastian Van De Woodsen long ago and she didn't think he'd ever let up about it, not that she particularly minded though. It was nice to have someone to talk to about it even if it was her little brother.

"A thing for blondes" their mother said "you really are your father's daughter"

"Apparently I have a thing for the ones who go get drunk on Thanksgiving and almost die" she quipped.

"Well you're dad like 'em dangerous and troubled too" Alison commented. Danni raised an eyebrow at her in what she hoped was a questioning look.

"You were dangerous?" she asked.

"Who said I was talking about me?" she shot back.

"Well I didn't realise there was anybody else"

…..

_Thanksgiving – Present day._

There was an awkward silence for a few moments as everybody just sort of stared each other. Danni begun preparing herself to jump in and say something to break it when Lily did it for her.

"Well, it's nice to meet you" she told Alison flashing her a courteous smile.

"I'm Alison" she replied "it's Lily right?"

"Right" Lily replied, the same smile still on a face. Sebastian noted how fake it seemed, like somebody had plastered it on there. Lily moved quickly, collecting her children's coat and stacking them with her own.

"I'll just go put these coats in Danielle's room" she told them. Alison shook her head, reaching out for the coats.

"No, let me do it" she said. Lily quickly handed them over and handed Rufus the bottle of wine she'd brought along for the occasion.

"Thanks" he told her before addressing their kids "alright Jeremy, Erica you're on napkin duty, Sebastian, Danni I want every water glass filled and every candle you can find lit"

…..

The meal was a little too quiet for Danni's tastes. It all seemed to be going well but the lack of words and the strange stars their parents were sharing were really beginning to get on her nerves. Her mother had once said she'd never met a word that she didn't like so she just let the words tumble out.

"So Mrs Van Der Woodsen, what were Thanksgivings like for you growing up?" she asked and for a second there Danni's sure Lily is glare at her for asking a question like that but she smiles like she's glad to be included and it's worth it. Maybe Sebastian's mother was warming up to her after all.

"I grew up on a little ranch in Montecito" Lily tells her, pouring more of the wine she'd brought into her glass.

"I didn't know there were little ranches" Jeremy chimes in, reaching across the table for more food.

"There aren't" Alison said jokingly, a laugh ripples through the table and Lily's smile is wiped from her face.

Sebastian's phone, the one that's sitting on the table next to him, rings at this point. He takes one glance at the caller ID and he takes the call muttering apologies as he does so. Danni briefly wonders who it could be but doesn't dwell on it for long because Jeremy tells some old, bad joke that she doesn't fully hear but she's probably heard a hundred times before and another laugh ripples through all of them and it's so good to see everyone so happy that the last thing on her mind is Sebastian Van Der Woodsen's phone call.

It's a quick call and he ends it abruptly with:

"I'm on my way"

She can't help but be a little bit disappointed but she tells herself it must be important if he has to leave in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner.

After Sebastian leaves Danni diverts the topic back to Lily and her ranch.

"Did you have horses?" Jeremy asks.

"I had my own actually, Rosewood" Lily says with a smile.

Jeremy's head snaps up and away from his plate, a smile forming on his face.

"My dad has a song called Rosewood" he announces.

"No, not that Rosewood" Rufus clarifies.

"I completely forgot about that song!" Danni exclaimed.

"Yeah it's about my mom" Jeremy tells her "because she had this perfume that she always wore it was um roses and uh-"

"Sandalwood" Danni finished for him.

"It was like her own personal scent" Jeremy finishes.

Things quickly grow quiet and awkward again as their parents begin whispering again, she can hear her say "I'm a fool" and her dad reply "no you're not" and Danni is left wondering if it was something they'd said. She tries to make eye contact with Jeremy but he's staring at his food again.

"I'm sorry Alison, I never told Rufus about that horse I'm sure it's just a coincidence" Lily says taking another of the wine that she's probably had a little too much of.

"Wait a minute, why are you talking like you know each other?" Danni asks, silently praying that they're Thanksgiving doesn't get any weirder then this.

"Do you two know each other?" Erica asks looking just as confused as Danni feels.

"We kind of did know each other" Rufus tells them after sharing a look with Alison "a long, long time ago"

"What?" Erica asks obviously surprised.

"Know each other how?" Jeremy asks.

The room falls silent again and Danni follows her mother's gaze right to Lily Van Der Woodsen.

"Oh my god" she muttered to herself. This was just all too much. Apparently her mother felt the same as she left the room for some air snapping at Rufus not to follow her as she did so.

"You have a lot of explaining to do" Danni told her father before throwing down her napkin and following her mother out of the loft.

…..

_Thanksgiving – One year ago._

Nat had lead a now robe clad Sebastian up to the bathroom. He still hasn't sobered up and is laughing like a four and it kind of makes her laugh too.

"I don't want a bath" Sebastian declared with a pout sitting beside the Waldorf's bathtub.

"Sorry, Blaine's direct orders" Nat reminded him.

"Blaine's not the boss of me!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"Are you new here, cause Blaine's the boss of all of us" Nat pointed out, turning to close the bathroom door "seriously Sebastian you smell like the floor of a brewery"

"I do not" he argued, until he caught as whiff of himself "yeah I do, I need a bath"

He leaned over and turned both taps on, water filling the tub.

"Blaine's a bossy genius!" Sebastian said grinning at Nat.

"Yeah, yeah he is" Nat told him with a nod and a smile, because he may be bossy but Nat loves him.

"What about you?" Sebastian asks twisting the shower head towards her like a microphone, she playfully pushed it away.

"What about me?" she asked "I'm not the one who smells like an ash-tray"

"But you do look like an ass-tray" Sebastian says turning the shower head towards her, soaking her with water. She squealed, putting up her hands.

"Sebastian!" she exclaimed "what do you think you're doing, stop, stop!"

He stops, looking guilty and she smiles to herself grabbing the shower head turning the table on him, and it's all wet and playful and fun, even though she almost slipped a few times, until Blaine barged in and asked them what the hell they thought they were doing. There's a lot of umming and ahhing until Sebastian turns the water on him and Blaine begun laughing too, soon all three of them laughing.

_Thanksgiving – Present day_

Sebastian finds Blaine sitting in a corner of the same bathroom they were messing about in just last year. Sebastian moved to sit beside him, sitting squished in the corner is uncomfortable but there's no way he's moving until Blaine's feeling better because even though they fight and argue all the time he was always going to be his best friend.

"I didn't see your dad downstairs" Sebastian said.

"My mother just decides everything" Blaine says. Sebastian can hear the anger in his voice and briefly thinks about just about everyone she knows has problems with their parents.

"Everything in the world is just totally up to her" he continued.

"Yeah I know" Sebastian told him "hey why don't we got out of there"

Blaine shakes his head, sniffling a little.

"I'm not going back to that party" he told him, voice full of determination.

"No, I mean out of here out of here, out of this apartment" Sebastian clarified "to a place a little more sane"

A small smile crossed Blaine's face.

"Any place would qualify"

…

"So you actually threatened Lily Van Der Woodsen with physical violence?" Danielle asked her mother as they walked together, it's actually really nice to talk to her alone "mom you are a badass"

"Well yeah what can I say, I was younger than" her mother told her "and wearing steel toed boots"

Alison's laughed a little and Danni was actually scared that her mother had once been in a fight with her new boyfriend's mother.

"No, no, we didn't actually come to blows" Alison assured her "I focused on transforming my anger into art, I made some collages, I wrote a trilogy of one act plays about her, named the character 'Millie' to try to be you know...subtle"

"Clever" she told her with a small laugh.

"So what was so bad about her?" Danni finally asked "I mean aside from the superior fluttering eye lids and punishing sarcasm"

"Well.." her mother started "she was your dads first great love as she liked to remind me every chance she got, it's kind of hard to compete with that"

She always thought her mother was her dad's one great love. She kind of wishes she hadn't asked the question now.

….

"Oldest friends?" she heard Lily Van Der Woodsen say once she and her mother got back to the loft "it certainly didn't feel that way when you kissed me at Eleanor's party"

"What?" Alison asked. God they just had impeccable timing didn't they. The almost happy vibe she and her mother had previously been sharing came quickly crashing down.

"Danni would you uh-" Alison started.

"Go check on Erica and Jeremy" Danni finished for her knowing she was just looking for an excuse to get her to leave.

…

_Thanksgiving – One year ago._

Nat, Sebastian and Blaine came down the stairs together, laughing, both Nat and Blaine, supporting a still very drunk Sebastian. They plopped him down on a seat as soon as they could.

"Sebastian, you look wonderful" Harold commented, stopping in front of the three of them "looks like that shirt was made for you"

"It was made for you" Sebastian told him, pointing at him and laughing.

"I knew there was a reason I liked it" Harold said with his usual smile "and yours too?" he asked Nat.

Nat looked down at the borrowed button up she was wearing and shook her head.

"Blaine's actually" she told him.

"And this mine" Sebastian declared reaching for the alcohol on the tray Harold was carrying, Blaine immediately took it away from him, laughing slightly.

"Would you help me with the potatoes?" Harold Waldorf asked his son.

"Sure" he told him and the two of them headed back off to the kitchen.

….

"Hey guys I'm back" Sebastian announced stepping into the Humphrey loft, Blaine by his side "and I brought…" he paused upon seeing his mother and Danni's parents standing alone in the room all looking relatively stressed and angry, especially Alison.

"Blaine" Sebastian finished.

"Hey" Blaine said. All the adults stayed quiet.

"Wow, weird vibe" Sebastian commented "um, where's Danni?"

…

"There's no chance we're related right?" Danni asked from her position curled up in Jeremy's dark blue armchair.

"Maybe, just look at Erica's roots" Jeremy said with a small shrug.

Erica looked a little worried for a moment, reaching up to touch her hair.

"What's wrong with my roots?" she asked.

"Well they're kind of Rufus like" Jeremy teased. Thankfully the conversation about the possibility of being related was cut short as Sebastian walked into the room, followed by Blaine Waldorf.

"Hey Sebastian and Blaine…" she said, so apparently this Thanksgiving was just not going to get better at all.

"Explanation to follow" he told her moving to sit on the arm of the chair she was sitting on "but first what's going on with our parents"

"Oh, our dad dated your mom" Jeremy told her figuring that being blunt about it was the best option.

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"We're not related though" Danni added.

"Ignore my roots" Erica said.

"Wait…what?" Sebastian said.

"You know what's really weird?" Blaine asked "there's a garage door in the middle of your room"

And maybe Danni should've closed that garage door as this way Blaine Waldorf could see straight into her bedroom.

"Oh is that Cedric?" he asked spotting the cabbage patch kid sitting in her bookshelf.

"Well this day just got a whole lot worse" Danni said, mostly to herself.

"Wait hold on" Sebastian said turning the topic back to their parents "how serious were they? Our parents"

"I think it's uh safe to say that they've had sex" she said, god she really didn't want to think about that.

"Oh no, I think I'm gonna faint" Sebastian muttered with a groan, running a hand through his hair.

"To repeat, we are not related" Jeremy said.

"She was a groupie and he was almost famous" Danni tried to explain.

"Suddenly my family seems so sane" Blaine said a small smile playing on his face.

"This is too much to handle on an empty stomach" Sebastian said toying with the sleeve of Danni's shirt in a way that was almost comforting.

"Well…" she paused looking towards the door "we are definitely not going back out there"

"Can we leave here then?" he asked sliding off the arm rest and holding out a hand to help her up "leave here, eat, escape"

Danni smiled a little, accepting his hand and standing up.

"That's why they call it a fire escape"

…..

"My mom is such a hypocrite" Sebastian said after the five of them escape the apartment and found somewhere to eat "all this time she was going on about my behaviour"

"And she's just mad at you for being her" Erica finished.

"All this time my dad's been giving me this advice based on this girl he dated, this girl who was lot like Sebastian…" Danni said

"It's his mom" Jeremy finished, stating the obvious.

"When you think about it it makes total sense that your mom was a groupie" Blaine said "I mean only a women that had completely satisfied her sexual appetite in her youth would ever marry your step-dads"

"Oh god" Sebastian said "can we please not talk about my mom's appetite?"

"Or who satisfied it" Danni added.

"It's just.." Sebastian started.

"..so.." Danni said.

"Gross" Erica and Jeremy finished together.

Lily Van Der Woodsen walked in at this moment, walking right over to them. Danni briefly wondered how she found them but didn't dwell on it for long it wasn't worth it she had enough question floating around after everything that happened with her parents today.

"Hey mom" Sebastian greeted her.

"Is everything okay?" Erica asked.

"Yeah" Lily told them after a few moments.

"Do you want to go home?" Sebastian asked "I can call a car"

"No, not yet, I need fries" she said, turning to the waiter "excuse me? Can I get some French fries and keep them coming?"

"Jeremy and I should probably head back to the loft" Danni said speaking for the both of them. The Van Der Woodsen's should probably have their Thanksgiving alone this year and anyway they had their parents waiting for them at home and although she was not looking forward to talking about any of this it was probably needed.

Jeremy seemed to agree to as he wiped his mouth with his napkin before standing.

"I'm gonna go too, leaves you guys alone" Blaine told them.

Before she stood up Sebastian kissed her quickly on the cheek. She turned to smile at him as they left.

…..

Blaine, Jeremy and Danni shared a cab for most of the way home and although Blaine kept asking about the garage door in the middle of the room and Cedric Danni had to admit it wasn't all that bad.

"Bye Waldorf" Danni told her as she and Jeremy were dropped off.

"Well today was not boring" she said to Jeremy as they walked.

"No" Jeremy agreed "I never should've asked mom to come home, but I didn't see this coming"

"Who could've?" she pointed out "don't worry about it"

"So weird that our parents had lives before us, you know?" Jeremy said.

"Or they had lives before each other" Danni added, Jeremy nodded.

"Lily seemed pretty upset" he noted "I wonder what happened when were gone"

"I don't know" she told, looking up to see their parents walking towards them "but I think were about to find out"

"Hey, who's in the mood for a little Humphrey family scrimmage" their father called tossing the football to Danni who was glad to see that at least both of them seemed rather happy.

"What will it be?" he asked when they got closer "kids against parents, boys against girls?"

"Definitely girls against boys" Danni said with a smile looking at her mother after their talk earlier it would be nice to spend some more time together.

"Come on, let's work out our plays" Alison said linking her arm with her daughter.


	10. Chapter 10: Hi, Society

**Chapter Ten: **Hi, Society

Ah debutante season, something that Sebastian was not looking forward to. Although it was all about the girls entering society and all that and Danni showed absolutely no interest in going his mother was still pushing him to go. Blaine was escorting some princess instead of Nat and although it was good to see him moving on he had to wonder what was Nat going to do?

…

"I don't understand why you don't want to go to this thing" Jeremy was telling his sister "they're pretty amazing"

"Should I be worried that you're so into a debutante ball?" she asked him teasingly, he hit her in the arm as retaliation "they're out-dated and totally classist" she reminded him "all I going to do is go over there, meet Sebastian's grandmother and hopefully not put my foot in my mouth like usual"

….

The dance studio in itself was pretty intimidating, all those tapping shoes and dancing couples, she had to wonder what Sebastian's grandmother would be like. She imagined an older version of Lily Van Der Woodsen but really hoped that she wasn't because she remembered how much Lily didn't like her when they first met. Although that was probably due to Lily and Rufus's shared past.

After a short conversation with Lily and Sebastian where she was pretty much blamed for Sebastian not attending the ball, Sebastian's grandmother Cece walked in.

"There is my _magnificent_ grandson!" she exclaimed hugging Sebastian and for a second Danni supposed that Cece may actually be nice enough to approve of her.

…

Sebastian explained the situation to her latter that day. Apparently his grandmother was sick, life-threating-ly sick and she really wanted to see her grandson escort somebody to a debutant ball. Danni understood, really she did even if she hated these balls she would go with him.

"So you understand right?" he asked as they stood in the elevator, riding up to the Waldorf penthouse together.

"Yeah, anything for a sick grandparent" she told him with a smile "besides we've both got family stuff, me with my mom's art opening, you with this ball"

…

When they stepped off the elevator Sebastian lead them over to his grandmother who was standing with a brunette girl who looked to be around their age. Cece introduced Sebastian to her. Her name was Carlotta Forrester, the girl Sebastian was going to be escorting to the debutant ball; apparently they all went to school together.

"And this is Danielle Humphrey" Cece said "Sebastian's….friend"

"My girlfriend actually" Sebastian spoke up, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer as if to prove that yes they were in fact dating.

"Oh, so you're not escorting your uh – girlfriend?" Carlotta asked.

"I'm not going" Danni explained.

"Familial obligations" Cece added. Carlotta nodded her understanding.

…

Danni had been listening to Cece go on and on about how great Carlotta was for the last ten minutes and while she did kind of like Carlotta when they met she was really growing tired of hearing Carlotta's seemingly endless list of achievements.

"Ladies with such class are a rare breed" Cece said at one point and Danni was pretty sure she was staring pointedly at her. What was it with Sebastian's female relatives and not liking her? She'd met three so far and only one had been consistently friendly, thank god for Erica.

…..

As she left the bathroom she was practically cornered by Cece who looked even less happy to see her then before.

"Do you like it here Miss Humphrey?" she asked.

"Oh, well it's kind of like a museum, a little cold but the water pressure is unparalleled" she joked.

"It's not what I meant" Cece said "but of course you would make a joke, that goes to my point"

"Excuse me?" she asked "did I miss something here?"

"Oh yes" Cece said "the way you feel? It never goes away, it just gets worse"

"I'm sorry I don't quite fol-"

"You'll always use your desert fork for you entrée, you'll always feel underdressed no matter what you wear and at dinner parties there will be a language that sounds like English and you think you speak it but they don't hear you and you don't understand them as time passes you'll feel that people never see you when they look at you but wonder merely whether if you're Sebastian's whim or his charity case until the day comes when your realise that men like Sebastian don't end with Danni Humphrey, they end up with the Carlotta's of the world and people like you? They turn into cocktail party anecdotes of their foolish youth"

Danni looked over at Sebastian who was laughing at something Carlotta had said, they looked so picture perfect and it was like a slap in the face. All these years of being the Brooklyn girl shoved into the Upper East Side World were finally catching up to her. Sebastian caught her gaze and walked over, smiling at her.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing" she told him "I've got to go, good luck with the ball"

"No, no don't go" Sebastian told her "I thought we were having fun"

"Yeah" Danni finally agreed, smiling smugly at Cece "so much fun that I've decided to go to the ball after all"

"Really?" Sebastian asked in surprised, pulling her into a hug "that's great"

….

Danni smoothed down the dress she was wearing looking at her reflection in the mirror. It didn't feel right. She thought when she put on the dress she'd feel like some kind of Upper East Side princess, someone who belonged at that ball but to herself she still looked like the same Brooklyn girl she'd always been. She supposed she'd never be the princess type, always more Cinderella then Sleeping Beauty but she had Sebastian, didn't she? Yes, she had her prince, and maybe this prince really didn't a princess.

"You're a little over dressed for an art show don't you think?" he father asked when he walked into her room. She spun around quickly to face him.

"Dad listen, I have been meaning to tell you…" she tried to explain.

"Don't worry about your mom, I'll take care of it" he simply said.

"You don't mind?" she asked in surprise "I thought I'd be grounded when you found out, I've got to admit it would be worth it"

"You look great" he smiled "make me proud, go show that Celia Rhodes what us Humphrey's are made of"

"What's going on dad?" she asked "you're doing that thing again, where you act really weird for no reason and it's kind of freaking me out"

"Oh, Sebastian's grandmother just came to see me" he said. Her eyes widened in surprise that really wasn't what she'd been expecting to hear.

He started heading for her door again, pausing when he reached it.

"We need to talk"

…

She knocked on the door to the Van Der Woodsen's Palace hotel room. Sebastian opened the door quickly, like he'd been waiting for her, he smiled at her and things seemed brighter again. God she just wished things could stay this way.

"You look great" he told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the hotel room.

"We need to talk" she told him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Is uh your grandmother here?" she asked finding the room Celia Rhodes free so far.

"Oh yeah, she's just in the other room with my mom getting ready" Sebastian explained "why?"

"I've got to be honest about something here, um, I don't think your grandmother is who you think she is " she started.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I know she's got this whole free spirit act perfected"

"Act?" he asked.

"But I don't think she has your best interests at heart" she explained.

"Where are you going with this?" he questioned.

"She came by my dad's gallery today" she told him.

"She probably just wanted to see your mom's art" Sebastian said.

"No she was trying to pay him off so I wouldn't go with you tonight"

"No" he said, shaking his head "she wouldn't do something like that"

"Sebastian that's what I've been trying to tell you, that women is the most manipulative person I've ever met, she makes your mother look like Ghandi"

"That's my grandmother you're talking about" Sebastian said "I love her"

"I know and I'm sorry but maybe you love her so much that you're blind to what she's been doing" she tried to tell him. There were a few moments of silence before Sebastian finally spoke.

"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this" he said.

"Maybe we shouldn't" she agreed sadly.

"I'll just talk to you later" he told her. She stood still for a few moments waiting for something other than the cold hard look he was giving her but there was nothing. After a while she nodded and walked out the door wondering if she just ruined everything.

Sebastian turned around after she left to find his grandmother standing behind him.

"Let's get Carlotta on the phone, shall we?" she asked.

"Yeah"

….

She felt like an idiot standing in a Brooklyn gallery in her Upper East Side debutant dress but really was not in the mood to go all the way back home and come back to the gallery, no one really seemed to care all too much so that made her feel just a little bit better and at least she'd thought enough to bring a coat with her, making the dress a little less noticeable.

"What are you doing back here?" her father asked when he saw her.

"Celia won" was her explanation.

"She has a habit of doing that" he said after a while "I suppose it's for the best, you're here with your family"

She nodded, looking over at her mother and Jeremy who were standing over by one of her mother's paintings.

"Yeah, family is what counts right?"

…..

"You don't want me to be myself do you?" Sebastian asked her mother that evening after the presentations and a few dances one that turned into a brawl between Nat and Carlotta. He had no idea what was going on there but he guessed it had something to do with Blaine as Carlotta was dancing with Blaine when Nat punched her and Nat had yelled 'that's my boyfriend' at one point.

"Sebastian" was all his mother had to say, in her patented exasperated tone.

"All you care about when people look at me is what they think of you" he told her "how am I supposed to accept myself if my own mother doesn't accept me"

"I do accept you" she tried to argue.

"No, no you don't" Sebastian told her.

…..

"I'm sorry" Sebastian told Carlotta as they sat next to each other. He was pressing a cold glass of something to her bruising temple "I know this isn't what you signed up for"

"It's okay" she said, leaning back in her chair "it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as waking up that morning in the Santorini and finding out you jumped on a boat"

"Well that night wasn't exactly what I signed up for either" he told her withdrawing the glass and handing it to her "that whole thing caught me by surprise"

"No I get it" Carlotta told him twisting the glass around in her hands "which is why I was so surprised when your grandmother called me last week"

Now it was his turn to be surprised.

"Last week? I wasn't even going last week" he told her.

"Yeah, but Cece said she thought you'd change your mind" Carlotta explained.

…..

Danielle was very surprised to hear Lily Van Der Woodsen's voice when she answered her phone and she was even more surprised to hear that she wanted to meet with her outside the gallery.

"Shouldn't you be-" she begun to ask when she saw Lily

"Anywhere but here, yes" Lily finished for her "so please listen to me and don't interrupt what I have to say is hard for me, when I was your age I would've been lucky to find someone like you and I kind of did but when it came down to I thought my mother knew who I was much better then I knew myself. I'm not sure exactly who my son was but I know who he's become since he met you, he returns home every night at a reasonable hour, he doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, I don't know if your responsible for that but I don't think it's a coincidence" she paused smiling at Danni "you belong with my son and I think everyone should know that, will you come with me?"

"Yes Mrs Van Der Woodsen, I would love to" she told her. She'd just gone from having only one of Sebastian's family members on her side to two. Things were definitely looking up.

…..

"I stood up for you" Sebastian told his grandmother when she approached him going on about how the cotillion was practically ruined by Nat and Carlotta's fight.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"With Danni, I defended you" he told her.

"We'll talk about that later" was all she had to say.

"No, we don't need to talk at all" he told her "I just need to know one thing, are you even ill?"

"No" she admitted, laughing like it okay to trick your family like that, it made him feel ill himself "but I could be, all those cigarettes and cocktails"

"Why would you do this?" he asked her.

"There's so much you don't understand" she told her "you just can't go around making your own rules"

"Things aren't like they were when you were young grandma" he pointed out "things have changed"

Celia looked over his shoulder and something he couldn't see.

"I suppose they have"

Sebastian turned around to see what she was staring at only to find Danielle Humphrey looking back at her. She walked towards him and he took her hand and pulled them both out onto the dance floor. They didn't dance like the other couples, not choreographed and perfect looking, their dancing was messy but it was so full of love. Just like their relationship.

He dipped her at one point, and she was sure he was going to drop her and she was going to go crashing down to the ground. But he didn't, he held on tight, arm around her back, hand resting on her waist. He pressed a passionate kiss on her lips and she couldn't help but smile.


	11. Chapter 11: Roman Holiday

**Chapter Eleven: **Roman Holiday

The sounds of the Constance Billard choir girls echoed throughout the school courtyard as entertainment for the shoppers at the Constance Billard/St. Jude's holiday bazaar, where according to Gossip Girl the only real bizarre thing was the items for sale.

Danielle supposed she was right when she spotted a butter churn on one table.

"Ah just what I need to go with my loom" Sebastian joked when he saw it

"I've got the perfect Christmas present for you" he announced picking up a large probably fur hat and pulling it over head. He laughed upon seeing it and she took it of quickly.

"For when I move to Siberia?" she joked placing it back on the table and smoothing out her hair "come on New York hardly ever gets cold anymore, it never snows! I mean who wants chestnuts roasting on an open fire when it feels like Florida"

"Okay, global warming Grinch" he teased sliding one of his hands into hers.

"I'm just saying Christmas should be white and snowy, I would even settle for Manhattan slush right now" she told him. Van marched over to them at this point, smiling brightly, a red Christmas themed scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Ah there you are!" he exclaimed

"Hey Van, what are you doing here?" Danni asked.

"Merry Christmas" he replied handing her the rolled up present he was holding.

"Oh, a copy of the New Yorker?" she observed, looking down at it "you do know I have a subscription right?"

"There's a letter inside" he explained twisting it towards Sebastian "what does it say Sebastian?"

He carefully pulled the curled up letter out and begun to read it out loud.

"Dear Miss Humphrey, we are pleased to advise you that we would like to publish your short story in our summer fiction issue featuring twenty under twenty" he read, growing more and more excited for his girlfriend as he did so.

"There was a contest for young unknown writers and I might have submitted you" Van explained.

It didn't really hit her until that moment; she grabbed the letter from Sebastian so she could see it with her own eyes.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed excitedly "I'm going to be published and in the New Yorker, this can't be real, is this real?"

She'd wanted to be a published writer for as long as she could remember, it had been her dream and now it was coming true. It was amazing, completely and utterly amazing. This Christmas was going to be great, her family was together, she had the boyfriend she always wanted, Van was back in New York and now she had a story that was going to be published in the New Yorker.

"This is go great" Sebastian said "I've never even read one of your stories"

"Don't worry, she doesn't show anyone" Van assured him "I swiped this one out of her draw on the pretence of borrowing a staple"

"Slick" Danni told him "hey, I never did get that stapler back"

"Let's see" Sebastian said plucking the letter from Danni's grasp "your story is called 10.8.05, what's that date?"

That date was the date of the very first time she'd met Sebastian Van Der Woodsen at a party she hadn't really been invited to in the first place. She'd told Van a long time ago but wasn't about to tell Sebastian about it. He probably didn't remember meeting her anyway, for him there first meeting was in the Palace Hotel.

"I don't know how you did this" she said, addressing Van and ignoring Sebastian's question, hopefully he wouldn't mind "but this is the best present ever, thank you"

…

Things were certainly very festive at the Humphrey loft that night. Jeremy and Alison were decorating their Christmas tree and the space surrounding it while Danni read out the stack of Christmas cards they'd received to the rest of them before hanging them up.

"My daughter the writer" Rufus said proudly holding the New Yorker letter that Danni had given him to read.

"Published writer" Alison added.

"Yeah, you've got your dream guy and your story in the New York maybe you should just die now" Jeremy said jokingly, he was all for the jokes lately.

"True, I may have peaked" she shrugged it off easily, opening the next card "this one's from the Smith's" she announced "season's greeting, very original"

"They don't have to be original, their name is Smith" Jeremy pointed out.

"Good point" she admitted with a nod picking up the next envelope "this one is from Alex.."

"What?" her mother asked whirling around.

"Alison m-meet me on the twen-twenty fourth-"

"No Danni" Alison said.

"And that's not a Christmas card" she said awkwardly shoving it back into its envelope. Things went quiet again rather quickly, that had been happening a lot lately. Rufus walked over to her taking the envelope from her.

"Why is he writing to you?" he asked his wife "sending cards to the house, asking to meet you"

"I don't know" Alison admitted.

"We're still here" Danni pointed out "we can hear everything"

They didn't seem to particularly care as they continued on with their conversation.

"Rufus, it's over with Alex I swear, I'm home now with my family" Alison told him.

"Good" he said to her before turning around to address all of them "let's all rewind and pretend this never happened, this is not going to ruin our Christmas"

Danni and Jeremy made eye contact across the room, both sharing a sad look. All the cracks in their family were being brought back to the surface again and pretending it never happened was not going to make it go away.

…..

The café where Van worked was never really all that busy, something that Danielle was quite happy about that. Van didn't seem to have all that much time lately what with the new job so if she wanted to talk to him about something she'd have to stop by the café. Today she wanted to talk to him about this New Yorker stuff and thank him again for his Christmas present. She hadn't been there all that long, maybe ten minutes or so, when Sebastian came bounding in, gift bag in one hand.

"I know it's not Christmas yet" he started placing the bag in front of her "but I couldn't wait"

She slowly pulled out the box from the gift bag and opened it. He'd brought her a watch, an expensive looking fancy watch that she really wanted to love but just couldn't. Wearing that watch would be like wearing a physical reminder of how different their worlds were. This watch was obviously worth a heck of a lot of money, more the she even really wanted to know about.

"I noticed that you didn't wear a watch" he explained "and I realised that's because you don't own one and you're probably going to need one to be punctual for all those meetings with editors and publishers now that you're a.." he paused lifting up one of the New Yorker magazine's covering the table "big, apparently self-important writer"

She stared down at the watch; she really didn't know what to say.

"You don't like it" he said "you want the brown band"

"No, no, I love the band, I do, I love the whole thing" she quickly told him "it's the most amazing watch I've ever seen but I can't accept this"

His expression turned into a look of surprise, he tilted his head to the side and leaned forward slightly.

"Yes you can" he told her "you have to"

"Sebastian, I buy a book for my dad every Christmas" she explained to him "I think the most elaborate gift I've ever given is a pair of rubber boots from L. L. Bean"

He nodded in understanding, sliding the box back towards him.

"So I over did it?" he asked. She nodded, grinning a little as she closed the watch box.

"I think even your under doing it would be over doing it" she told him "let's set some rules"

"Fine" he agreed, picking up the ribbon that the box had been tied up with "deadline?"

"Tomorrow morning" she said, Sebastian nodded in agreement.

"Price limit?" she asked.

Sebastian placed the watch back in the gift bag, taking the time to think.

"Fifty bucks" he said after a moment.

"Alright" she agreed "may the best gift win"

He stood up to leave, kissing her before heading for the door. Van who had been wiping down nearby tables and had obviously overheard the entire exchange stopped him at the door.

"Hey" he said, lowering his voice "if it's any help I can tell you Danni's favourite used book store?"

"No, that's okay" Sebastian told him "I think I've got it"

….

Danni was still sitting in Van's café, later that day. Jeremy had joined her at this point. He'd brought along his laptop which he was currently staring at, fingers perched on the keyboard. She asked him to help her find the perfect gift for Sebastian because honestly she had no idea.

"Okay, how about this" he said eventually "at least you know it's something he doesn't already have"

She moved closer to see the screen. 'Gourmet cheese of the month club' was written across the page Jeremy was looking at.

"A year of cheese for $600?" she asked reading the price "are you kidding me? I could buy a cow for that much, make my own cheese"

"Make your own cheese?" Jeremy asked "that's disgusting"

"I'm never going to find the perfect gift for Sebastian" she told him. Jeremy nodded slightly, clicking away from the cheese website.

"Yeah" he said "and it has to be especially good this year to make up for the rest of his Christmas"

"What do you mean?" she asked. How was it that her younger brother always seemed so much more in the loop about everything then she was?

"Well she's living in a hotel" he pointed out "how homey can it be? It's not exactly festive; Erica told me that they don't even allow trees"

A gift idea popped into her mind at that point, a small smile playing on her face. It was crazy but it just might work.

…

After a rather strange conversation at Blaine's penthouse, which involved Blaine suggesting horrible gift ideas for Danni and looking for a male model's phone number online (he didn't even both asking what that was about), Sebastian headed back to Van's café.

"Hey" he greeted as he walked in just in time to see Van finished for the night putting down the tray he was carrying and untying his apron. Van smiled at him.

"Hey" he replied.

"I come to you with hat in hand, tail between my legs and of my high horse" he told him, Van let out a small laugh at this "I spent all day searching for the perfect gift for Danni and now all the stores are closing, Christmas day is looming and I need your help"

"I could take this opportunity to gloat" Van pointed out "but I actually like you, so let's get down to business, what do you have so far?"

"Well, I found a first edition JL Hall book, an original Italian poster of 'The 400 blows' and a Mont Blanc fountain pen"

"All very thoughtful" Van noted leaning against the counter.

"And all exceeding fifty dollars" Sebastian added. Van nodded in understanding, picking up his coat, moving away from the counter and through the café, Sebastian followed closely behind.

"Well Danni isn't really that into _things_" Van pointed out.

"Which makes shopping for her kind of hopeless" he told him "the only thing she wants for Christmas is snow and it's not like I can give her that"

"You sure?" he asked, tugging on his coat as they reached the door.

…..

The Van Der Woodsen siblings were sitting together on Blaine Waldorf's bed, surrounded by pieces of white paper. Van was sitting in front of them working on something on a laptop.

"Dorota's going to kill you if you get glue on that comforter" Blaine warned walking into the room.

"I'm sorry for turning your bedroom into an art studio Blaine" Sebastian told him, picking up a pair of scissors "but the clock is ticking"

"I'm done" Van announced, moving so that the siblings could see the laptop screen.

"Wow" Erica said. Blaine moved so he could see what Van had been working on.

"Oh my god" Sebastian added "that's amazing, thank you so much Van, this is going to be incredible"

"Good" Van said, smiling across at him "I'm glad to help; I think she'll really love it"

There was something about the way that Van said that, it just didn't seem right. Blaine's smile dropped as he straightened up.

"Van, I want to help with this little project" he said, Sebastian turned to him shooting him a surprised look "would you come help me look for another pair of scissors?"

Van although confused by Blaine's sudden eagerness followed him into the adjoining bathroom. Blaine shut the door behind them and walked across the room picking up a very obvious pair of scissors.

"It's so nice what you're doing for your friend Danni, helping her boyfriend make her Christmas present" he said "Sebastian is _so _grateful because he likes to see the best in people, I like to see the truth"

"Yeah?" Van asked "and what's that?"

"I think you like Danni a little too much" he explained, the look on Van's face and his lack of denial told him all that he needed to know "just thought you should know that someone's watching" he dropped the cold look off his face and put on a large fake smile "Merry Christmas" he told him.

Van turned around quickly leaving the bathroom.

"I'm taking off" he told Sebastian "call me when you're done?"

"Yeah okay" Sebastian told him "where are you going?"

Van didn't answer. He just smiled at them as he walked out the door.

"I'm gonna go check on my dad" Blaine announced walking out of the bathroom, a wicked smile on his face.

"I thought you were going to help?" Erica asked.

"I think my work here is done" Blaine answered cryptically as he left the room, stopping to say hello to Lily Van Der Woodsen as she walked in.

"If you two are done hiding up here, I'm taking you out for dessert" Lily told her children.

"Can't" Sebastian told her, stuffing cut out snowflakes into a box "busy"

"Oh come it'll just be the three of us" Lily tried.

"Mom, whenever you say 'just the three of us' you're dating someone new" Sebastian pointed out, continuing to pack up his snowflakes "and whoever it is I don't care, I'll just meet him at the wedding"

"Fine" Lily said "fine, then I'll just tell you who it is because you're going to be seeing him around from now on, it's Bart Bass"

"Bart Bass?" her children echoed.

"Mom, you cannot date Bart Bass" Sebastian said.

"You just said a moment ago you didn't care who it was" Lily pointed out.

"That was before I knew it was Bart Bass" he shot back.

"He only has one facial expression" Erica said sitting up further "he scares me"

"And he raised Chuck" Sebastian added "that scares me"

"Ah Sebastian, as usual you're being over dramatic" Lily tod him "I'm not marrying Bart, this is very casual and regardless I'm not asking your permission"

And with that final remark their mother left the room. Sebastian really hoped she wasn't going to marry Bart Bass because having Charlotte Bass as his step-sister was the stuff his nightmares were made of.

…..

Meanwhile the Humphrey siblings were lugging a pine tree through the streets of Manhattan.

"You know when I suggest this plan, I didn't know it would involve a robbery" Jeremy panted from his place at the back of the tree.

"I left a donation" Danni pointed out, moving to let a woman pass them "so it was more of a rescue then a robbery, you know those abandoned trees in that lot were just going to be kindling the day after Christmas, this tree we have here is going to be loved and admired"

"You have a real talent for spin my dear sister" Jeremy teased, dropping his end of the tree so he could take a break.

"I wish I had more of a talent for heavy lifting" she told him, dropping her own end.

"Yeah well what you're doing for Sebastian is really romantic" Jeremy pointed out, adjusting the hood of his jacket. Danni smiled, she was actually quite proud of her Christmas present "I wonder what mom and dad are getting each other for Christmas"

Her smile quickly dropped. Jeremy had always been very idealistic about their parents; he very much thought they were meant to be together forever. Jeremy noticed her expression and dropped his smile too.

"I thought if I got them under the same roof that everything would just go back to the way they were" he admitted sadly, for a while there Danni thought things could go back to normal too "they haven't have they?"

"I think there's a real possibility that they might split up" she told him. She just couldn't lie to him anymore; they were both dealing with the same issues. They had to stick together.

"I-If I hadn't brought her back thought we could've just pretend that she was just in Hudson doing her art" Jeremy said, voice wavering slightly. She leaned towards him, wrapping him in a hug.

"You did the right thing Jeremy" she told him when she pulled away "really you did, because whatever happens now, at least we're not living in a fantasy"

…..

They stopped again in front of the Palace Hotel, dropping their tree on the ground and taking a moment to stretch out their aches, the Humphrey's maybe good at a lot of different things but lugging heavy Christmas trees around was not on the list.

"Okay, so what now?" Jeremy asked.

"You go in there" she said pointing towards the entrance "and you distract Dexter the humourless concierge while I try and sneak this into an elevator"

"Who's going to turn you into Hercules so you can carry this by yourself?" he teased. She grunted as she attempted to lift the tree into her arms.

"I didn't say it was fool proof" she admitted, she twisted her head towards the way they had just come in time to see Lily heading their way.

"Mrs Van Der Wood- Lily" she called, correcting herself "hey!"

"Danni, Jeremy" she greeted kindly before looking at the tree, half in Danni's arm, half on the ground "tree"

"Yeah" she said sheepishly carefully putting the tree down "they don't allow Christmas trees inside which is why we're out here"

"Which is why Danni's about to ask you a favour" Jeremy told her.

"Would it involve distracting Dexter and sneaking this into the elevator?" she asked. Danni wondered if she wasn't the first to attempt to bring Christmas tree's into the building or if Lily just somehow knew all her plans.

"Why?" Danni asked "would that work?"

"No, definitely not" Lily told them very bluntly "he has the eyes of a hawk and he takes his job very seriously"

"So I've noticed" Danni commented.

"But Bobby at the service entrance?" Lily added "I think he could be bought"

Danni grinned, she could've kissed her! Although that probably wouldn't go over very well.

….

"I just texted Danni, she's on her way" Sebastian told Van. They were standing in the middle of Rufus's gallery where they had just set up everything they'd been working on for Danni's Christmas present.

"Thank you so much" he told Van.

"Really, it's no problem" he said "and since there are no problems I'm should go"

He turned picking up his coat from the wooden boxes behind him.

"No, no" Sebastian told him "you should stay"

"We already talked about how to turn everything on" Van reminded him.

"I want you to see her face when she walks in" Sebastian told him.

"I've really got to go" Van said, heading for the door.

"Well I'll tell her about what you did!" Sebastian called after him. Van paused at the door turning around to face him.

"No don't" he assured him "it's your present, enjoy your night"

Van paused just outside the door looking into the room. It was perfect Danni would love it and although he liked Sebastian and he knew Danni really, really liked him he couldn't help but wish it was him that was the one that got to give Danni this very romantic Christmas present. He couldn't help but wish that she still felt the same way as she did a year ago.

…..

Danni pushed upon a door and slipped into one of the gallery's room. It was made to look like a snowy forest, a projected animation playing on three of the walls, cut out silver and white snowflakes stuck to the wooden panel door, fake snow falling from above them and being blown around by a small fan. It was wonderful, like something out of a dream.

"Merry Christmas" Sebastian greeted. He was sitting on a mattress with white sheets and a few pillows smiling up at her. "Do you like it?" he asked "do you think it's cheesy?"

"No, no" she assured him stripping off her coat even though it looked like snow the room was much warmer than outside "it's incredible, how did you do this?"

"Well I had help from my elves" Sebastian admitted with a grin.

She smiled, walking across the gallery and moving to sit beside him on the mattress. He smiled back at her as she sat down, taking her hand in his.

"Your present is waiting for you at home" she told him "but I bought you a little pre-present" she handed him an envelope she'd taken out of her jacket.

He tilted his head to the side and pulled it open.

"It's your story" he said once he realised.

"Yep" she told him "the original, ripped straight out of the spiral bound notebook"

"I'm kind of scared to read it" he admitted "what happened on October 8th 2005?"

"Um.." she paused unsure how to start "well I was accidently invited to a birthday party, where I met a boy, he only spoke two sentences to me but I've never forgotten him"

"Wait your stories about me?" he asked, looking from the paper to her. It actually felt surprisingly good to tell him that story, her dad knew it, her mom knew it, Jeremy knew it, as did Van, but she never thought she'd be able to tell Sebastian Van Der Woodsen about her story.

Sebastian smiled and leaned forward, closing the gap between them. He pressed their lips together in a kiss, which quickly deepened. When they pulled apart, she pulled open the first few buttons of her shirt. She was ready now; here in this brilliant snowy room with Sebastian Van Der Woodsen, this was the kind of special she needed.

…

"The arts and crafts were impressive" Danni said the next morning, she was lying, next to Sebastian, head resting on his arm, underneath a white comforter on a mattress in the gallery where she'd fallen asleep the night before. They were looking up through a sky light in the roof where snow was falling outside "but how did you manage the real snow?"

"I'm well connected" he joked, lazily using the hand of the arm she was resting her head on to play with her hair.

"This has been the best Christmas ever" she told him.

"Best Christmas ever, in the history of Christmas" he agreed.

"Well this has been wonderful" she told him "but we better get home before our parents wake up"

….

Sebastian sneaked back into his family's hotel room to see a large Christmas tree that wasn't there when he had left, it was covered in gold Christmas lights with a big red bow on top. He smiled; this had been the present Danni had mentioned. It was brilliant. He'd been worried about the lack of Christmas feeling in the hotel room, the tree was just what they needed.

…

"Merry Christmas dad, you're up early" Danni told her father as she walked into the loft. He was standing in the Humphrey kitchen, wearing a red apron, cooking something which knowing her father was probably waffles or waffle related.

"And you're getting in late" he pointed out.

"I uh sent you a message" she told him, moving to sit on a stool in front of the counter.

"Saying the tree shenanigans were taking all night I didn't think you meant literally all night" he said.

"Oh yeah the tree, it was a big production" she replied, pulling off her coat "but luckily Sebastian's mom was there to help..."

"Lily was there?" he asked "I thought you mentioned she was out of the country"

"No" she said "no, they're here, they're going to go see the Nutcracker tomorrow"

"Do I smell chocolate chip waffles?" Jeremy called as he and their mother joined them in the kitchen. Danni smiled to herself, so she was right about the waffles.

"With hot caramel sauce" Rufus told him.

"Your father's Christmas specialty" Alison reminded them.

"Danni, pass the chocolate chips" Jeremy said nudging his sister with his elbow.

She nodded passing the bowl to him.

"Good morning" she told him.

"Good morning" he replied with a wide grin.

"After breakfast and presents I've got to go to the gallery" their father explained placing a waffle onto a nearby plate "take care of some stuff"

"On Christmas morning?" Jeremy asked his face twisting up in confusion, as he grabbed a handful of chocolate chips from the bowl Danni had passed to him.

"Well yeah you know art never sleeps" Rufus told them. A strange look passed Alison's face as he said this a look that Danni swore almost looked strangely guilty.

"The three of us can hang out" Alison told them "it'll be great, we can drink hot cocoa and watch a movie and then when your dad comes back we can all go for a walk"

…..

"So what did dad have to do at the gallery exactly?" Danni asked her mother. Her father had only left a few minutes earlier and the three remaining Humphrey's had gathered together next to their Christmas tree. Danni had taken to looking up at it and wandering what Sebastian had thought of her Christmas tree gift.

"Ah...p-paperwork I think" Alison answered, that same almost guilty expression from earlier reappearing on her face.

"You're going back to Hudson aren't you?" Jeremy asked. Alison sighed and looked down at her hands in her lap before looking up at her children again.

"Yes" she finally told them, she leaned forward towards them "but hey, we are going to be okay"

She stood up, turning towards Jeremy, holding out her hands for a hug.

"Come here" she told him. He slowly stood, letting his mother hug him.

"We know" Danni told her. Alison pulled slightly away from Jeremy and Danni stepped into the hug.

"It's alright" Danni said.

…..

Bart Bass had turned up at the Van Der Woodsen's place for Christmas morning. Both Sebastian and Erica had been surprised to see him, although Sebastian was mostly just happy that he hadn't brought Charlotte with him who he'd heard was in Monaco.

The older Bass had bought along present for the family which included a Miami Marlin's jersey for Erica who didn't quite know what to think or say about the present.

"I know how much you liked Florida" Bart explained.

"Oh yeah" she lied remembering her mother's lie, she'd forgotten that most people thought she'd been spending time with her aunt in Florida "number one fan, I'm sorry I didn't get you anything Mr Bass but I didn't know you were coming for Christmas"

"It's alright Erica" he said "and please call me Bart"

'So much for casual' Erica thought as Sebastian walked towards her, gift in hand.

"Here, for you" he told her, smiling as she took it from him.

"Thank you" she replied.

"Erica, Sebastian" Bart said "I just want you to know that I have deep feelings for you mother"

A Christmas jingle started playing, Lily's ringtone.

"Mom, your phone" Sebastian told her.

"Oh" Lily said reaching for it.

"Lily you're not going to want to interrupt this moment" Bart told her, he stepped towards her, bending down on knee. He produced a ring box from his box and opened it to reveal an engagement ring.

"Lily, would you do me the honour of being my wife?" he asked.


	12. Chapter 12: School Lies

**Chapter Twelve: **School Lies.

Everything about Constance Billard and St Jude's screamed money, including the pool which was where a group of students from the school had broken into it. More and more people just kept turning up bringing with them alcohol and some even brought along drugs, it had soon turned into a pretty large party.

"You know if my dad and your mom come back from South Africa tomorrow engaged, you and I will be brother and sister" Charlotte told Sebastian, as she approached him by the side of the pool, both of them were dry as although they were dressed for it neither of them had gotten into the pool yet, Sebastian supposed that was because Charlotte was worried about getting her hair wet and was having way too much fun flirting with the idiot guys that always seemed to follow her around.

"And you know what they say the family that plays together stays together" Charlotte finished.

"Ah, incest, the universal taboo" Sebastian shot back "one of the only ones you haven't violated"

"Well I'm game if you are" Charlotte replied leaning closer, tilting her head to one side.

Sebastian knocked her glass into the water before walking away.

…..

"Danielle Humphrey, aged seventeen" Van commentated circling her with his camera "enjoy an exotic meal of Cheerio's on an exciting Saturday night in" he paused his commentary as he got closer "come on, be interesting, you don't want me to move back to Vermont do you?"

"No" she told him "but if your whole future depends on getting this grant for your documentary you probably should've chosen a different subject"

"Absolutely not" he told her, moving the camera closer "the outsider goes inside, a likeable every-girl's pursuit of her dream guy begins her descent into the bowels of hell, this is mythic stuff"

Van paused as depressingly sad music, started up from Rufus's bedroom.

"Okay, not big on the soundtrack" he said with a small laugh "whatever movie he's scoring sounds depressing"

"Yeah I think it's a biopic" she told him "try listening to that for three weeks straight but before Christmas my dad hadn't finished a song in years, I really don't have the heart to tell you to stop"

"Well I do" Van told her moving towards Rufus's door. He was about to knock on it when Danni's phone rang and she greeted Sebastian who was on the other end.

"Hey Sebastian" she said.

"Yes!" Van exclaimed heading back towards her, camera up "finally some action"

"Hey, what are you up to?" Sebastian asked on the other end "besides missing me"

"Ah, just wondering if you're missing me" she told him "what are you up to?"

"I'm at a party actually" he said "a party that would be so much better if you were here too"

"Party? I thought you were having a quiet night in with Blaine, you know since it's your last night at Blaine's before your mother comes home" she reminded him, she distinctly remembered him telling her this.

"Well we were" he assured her "but Kade and Isaac turned up and we all went out and we ran into some people and ended up here"

"W-where's here?" she asked him.

"719 East 82nd street" he told her. The address seemed oddly familiar.

"Wait, isn't that school?" she asked.

"Bring your bathing suit" was his reply.

"Your swimming?" she asked, there was no reply on the other end of the line, she pulled the phone away from her ear "and you've hung up on me"

"So what will it be Danni?" Van asked "Cheerio's and Chaucer or an illegal party at a prep school pool with your high society boyfriend?"

"Dad!" she called to her father "Van and I are going out"

…

"Well if you're looking for shots of me on the outside this is the perfect place" Danni told Van as they walked into the party. Van was still following her around with his camera, hoping to get some good shots for his documentary. Danni rubbed nervously at her upper arm nervously as she scanned the room. She knew a few of these kids, not that they were anything close to friends but there were a few of them that she got along with just fine. Like the boy who was currently wrestling with another boy over what she assumed was a bottle of alcohol over by the side of the pool, she'd helped him with his English homework a few months earlier. She wondered if that's all she'd ever be to these people, the girl who'd they'd willing go to for help with their school work but never ever think of inviting her to their parties.

"Danni!" Sebastian exclaimed, walking over to them and pulling her into a tight hug "I'm so glad you could make it"

"Hey Sebastian" Van greeted turning the camera on him as Sebastian pulled away from Danni.

"Hey Van" Sebastian replied.

"Get of me!" one of the fighting boy's yelled. She didn't quite see what happened next but the boy had fallen into the pool and he was very obviously bleeding from the head. Thankfully Nat Archibald had enough brains to jump into the pool and drag the boy over to the side. People started to scatter, climbing out of the pool and running for the door.

"Help!" Nat yelled as reached the side, the girl may be strong but she couldn't get the boy out by herself. Danni, who had started yelling for someone to call an ambulance, and the boy the injured boy had been wrestling with rushed forwards to help Nat and the boy. Danni grabbed one arm, the boy the other at this point Van rushed over to help as well, grabbing the boys side and helping to lift him onto the side of the pool.

"Yeah we need an ambulance" Sebastian who thankfully dialled 911 was saying into his phone "a boy f-fell into the pool and hit his head, 719 East 82nd street"

Danni who'd noticed the boy wasn't breathing had started CPR by this point. Her mom had been on a safety kick a few years ago and had insisted that she and Jeremy both learnt it just in case. She was very thankful for that at this moment.

…

"Thanks to the cell phone someone left behind, we've got plenty of evidence as to who was at the party" St Jude's headmaster announced, clicking through multiple photos of the party that were displayed on a large TV screen. Just looking at those photos made Danni feel sick, she didn't want to think about that party ever again but the events just kept playing over and over again in her mind and seeing these photos made the memories all that much stronger.

"Lucky for you Andrew Collins is going to be fine" the headmaster continued and even though she'd already heard this, it made her feel a tiny bit better "unlucky for you we need to hold someone responsible" he turned to the woman who'd been sitting in a nearby chair "Miss Queller"

She stood at the head of the gap between the chairs that separated the girls and the boys, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"Hello" she greeted "I'm Miss Queller, the new headmistress at Constance, it's unfortunate that we meet under these circumstances, but I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you, I've already talked to your parents-"

Oh yes. She expected that. She'd already told her father about where she'd been Saturday night, there were enough secrets in their family already. Her father had yelled at her for a good ten minutes about how disappointed he was before he wrapped it up with a hug, asking her if she was okay. Jeremy who'd somehow heard what had happened and her involvement in it all, Van she suspected, stayed with her in her room all that night. When she assured him that she'd be okay by herself, he just smiled and told her that he was fine staying with her, that he was just returning the favour.

"- at least those who I could reach" Miss Queller continued "and look forward to reading your personal essays, ten thousand words explaining how you came to be on school property after hours, using alcohol and drugs where a fellow student almost died, in other words what the hell is wrong with you? I'll also be conducting one on one interviews until I find out who broke into the pool and initiated the party, that person will be expelled, if that person is not identified you will all face expulsion"

Danielle couldn't be expelled; her parents had sacrificed a lot to get her and her brother into the top school. Going to Constance Billard gave her a chance to put her good grades to use and get into an Ivy League school and really make something of herself. Getting expelled would ruin everything.

…..

Blaine, Charlotte, Nat, Kade, Isaac, Sebastian and Danni gathered on the front steps after the assembly had left out.

"Okay so we all know how this works?" Blaine asked

"No one talks, no one gets into trouble" Charlotte explained.

"Who did break in anyway?" Nat asked, just the very thing Danni had been wondering about.

Charlotte chucked and rolled her eyes.

"I guess we don't have to worry about Nat cracking under pressure" she said.

"So are we all agreed?" Blaine asked. Sebastian looked around the group; most of whom were nodding before turning his eyes on Danni who just stood there refusing to meet his gaze.

"Agreed" he said finally.

"Look Blaine I know you have you sights set on Yale but don't you think this skull and bones stuff is a bit much, don't you think?" Danni asked.

"Maybe" Blaine told her "but it works, every time"

And with that as the final remark the group split up going their separate ways. Blaine, Kade and Isaac headed down the stairs towards St Jude's, while Charlotte and Natalie walked back up them. Sebastian and Danni both stay where they were.

"You know when someone says every time it sounds like more than a few times" Danni commented, rocking back and forth on her feet. She was incredibly nervous; this whole situation was not going in her favour at all. She had no idea who broke into the pool in the first place. Sebastian stepped towards her, placing a hand on her arm.

"Everything's going to be fine" he told her.

"Where you just in the same assembly as me?" she asked.

"Do you really think she's going to expel two thirds of the junior class?" he asked "look, I got you into this I'm going to get you out"

…..

"Hey dad" she greeted when her father called her later the day "listen I got your thousand and one messages, I just haven't had a chance to get back to you"

It was a lie; she'd been avoiding talking to him. But he didn't have to know that.

"Yeah, that's not going to work" he said on the other end of the line.

"So I guess Miss Queller called?" she asked.

"I know how upset you were by everything and some of the kids didn't even tell their parents" Rufus said

"You don't have to say anything else" she told him "I regret even leaving the house Saturday"

"If you know anything you've got to cooperate" he told her.

"I don't" she told her "dad, I really don't"

"Look Danni don't think for a second these other kids aren't going to be look out for themselves, you've got to do the same" he said.

…..

She had stopped by the hospital after school, along with the message from her dad there was from Mrs Quinn. Apparently somebody had told her son that it was her and Nat who'd rescued him and he wanted to see her. She almost didn't go, but there was still a part of her brain that was screaming 'somebody almost died' over and over again and she really just had to see that he was alright.

"Hey" he greeted with a smile when she stepped into the room. Well he looked okay, apart from the bandage on his head. He was sitting on top of the hospital covers in his own clothes, she had passed his parents on her way in apparently he was soon to be discharged.

"How are you?" she asked him.

"A lot better than I would be if it wasn't for you" he told her "it's Danielle right, Danielle Humphrey?"

"That would be me" she told him smiling slightly "and really it was nothing"

"You saved my life, that's not nothing" Andrew said "if you hadn't-"

"It if hadn't done it someone else would've" she pointed out; cutting him off, well she really hoped someone else would've, a lot of people had started running but surely someone else would've helped Andrew.

"Yeah but you did" he said "you're a real hero"

"Hero?" she asked "I don't think so"

"This is going to sound immensely stupid" he said after a long pause "but do you think we could be friends somehow, I mean I know I sort of snubbed you after you helped me with English last year, but things are different now, I think you and I could be really great friends"

"Sure" she told him with a smile "let's be friends"

…

Danni had found herself invited to a homework group at the Waldorf penthouse, all of the kids at the assembly had apparently been invited but she suspected that Sebastian had secured her invite. Van had invited himself, bringing his video camera claiming that he was going to be using the time to film her for his documentary.

"Here take a look at this" he was saying turning the camera towards her.

"Do I really have to see this now?" she asked.

"Trust when I say you're going to want to see this before you step into Blaine Waldorf's lair" he said. She rolled her eyes leaning against the back wall of the elevator.

"It's a homework group" she reminded him "we're just going to be working on our essays"

"I wasn't sure what it was until I took it home and looked at it on my computer" Van told her.

He pressed a button and an image of Charlotte Bass standing by a table filled the screen, it was obviously from the night of the party, she was still wearing the same swimsuit she'd been wearing that night.

"Is that Chuck?" she asked, watching as the girl on the screen picked something up "and is that a key?"

"Oh yeah" Van replied. Their conversation ended there as the elevator reached the Waldorf penthouse.

It didn't look like any homework group she'd ever seen, no one looked to be doing any homework. Everyone was spread out around the room, talking and laughing loudly.

"Hey" Sebastian greeted standing up from the chair he'd been sitting on and walking over to them.

"I thought this was a homework group" Danni said.

"It is, we're just doing it in style" Blaine told her, passing her with a glass of something orange on a tray, he turned to Van, glaring at him "I thought I said you couldn't fill me"

Van rolled his eyes and turned the camera away from Blaine.

"Come here" Blaine whispered to Sebastian pulling him a few steps away from Danni and Van.

"You are so naïve" he told his friend in a whisper "Michael Moore over there is obviously using this film as way to get closer to Danni"

"No, he really needs this grant money" Sebastian assured him. He actually liked Van and refused to believe that all he wanted to do was steal his girlfriend away from him. Blaine pulled a face that he was pretty sure was his way of calling him an idiot before walking away.

"You wait here" he told Danni "I'll find us a quiet place to work"

After Sebastian left Danni easily found Charlotte Bass, lying stretched out on a chair, martini glass in hand.

"Charlotte" she started, the other girl tilted her head back, rolling her eyes as if she really couldn't believe that someone like Danielle Humphrey would just come right up and talk to her "you've got to tell the truth"

"Whatever happened to don't speak until spoken to?" she asked.

"I just saw you with that key" she told her "and I know you had it at the party"

"Poor little Humphrey-dumpty" she said rolling over to place her glass down "let me clarify something for you, regardless of who you are currently sleeping with you and I come from different worlds, in my world if I'm suspended or expelled a wing is donated in the Bass name"

"That sounds like a quite a world" Danni said.

"It's not perfect" Charlotte told her "but one thing it does offer in spades is security, my family can take care of me, what do the Humphrey's have to offer, used metro cards?" she slowly sat up and stood from her chair.

"And in case you were wondering you _nark_" she snapped "I only took the key from the party to hide it so we didn't all get blamed, including you"

…

After her conversation with Charlotte, Danielle just wanted to leave. She headed towards the elevator and was about to leave when Sebastian appeared and stopped her.

"Hey where are you going?" he asked "I made us a study spot"

"I'm just going to write my paper at home" she told him "I think Charlie's right"

"No, no" he said "don't listen to her"

"The girl has a point actually" she replied "maybe the reason none of you guys are taking it seriously because for you it's not"

Van appeared in the hall behind them, his video camera trained them. This was a particular conversation she really didn't want captured on film.

"Not, now Van" she told him. He nodded and thankfully walked away

"No, it is promise" Sebastian was telling her.

"Look I'm all for loyalty and I'm all for sticking together, but we're not in the same boat here" she reminded him "I'm on a partial scholarship, my parents have no way of buying my way back into that school or any school for that matter and I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion but if the person who brought that key refuses to step up I think anyone who knows anything has the right to say something"

A strange look crossed over Sebastian's face as he crossed his arms over his chest. It was a mix of worry and guilt.

"Do you know who it is?" she asked, he didn't reply "you do, don't you, and you're not going to say something"

"Danni, please" he said "you don't understand"

"You're right" she told him "I don't"

…..

She had to find Van before she could leave. She found him not to far away walking away from Charlotte Bass and Blaine Waldorf.

"Hey Van" she called to him "let's get going"

Charlotte lunged forward, grabbing Van's arm.

"If you think I'm going to let you walk out of here with that tape –" she started.

"Hey!" Danni exclaimed pulling them apart and stepping between them. Charlotte was waving her hands around trying to grab a hold of Van's camera.

"Get out of the way" she snapped, one hand balling into her first.

"Back of!" Danni snapped, pushing Charlotte back "stay away from him"

She glared at Blaine and Charlotte as she and Van headed into the elevator.

…

Another assembly was called the next day. Headmistress Queller stood in front of all them, the Constance girls on one side, the St Jude boys on the other.

"Yesterday I talked about serious consequences for you dishonourable actions" she said "and obviously you didn't believe me, but somebody came forward today and claimed responsibility"

Danni sat up a little straighter at this news.

"Do you know who?" Sebastian whispered to Blaine on the other side of the room.

"For a crime she didn't commit" she continued "and although I appreciate her self sacrifice, I don't abide dishonesty and I think it's time you all know how serious I am, Natalie Archibald is suspended from Constance Billiard and yes this will go on her transcript, effective immediately, Miss Archibald you know where to find the exit"

"What her go students" Miss Queller said as Nat left the room "who wants to be next? Because we'll keep going until every last one of you has walked out that door"

….

"I don't believe this" Danni said once they had left the assembly.

"Danni, it's going to be okay" he tried to assure her.

"I can't be expelled Sebastian" she reminded him "or suspended, I can't, my whole future is riding on this, if you know who broke in why won't you give them up?"

"Because it was me"

….

Danni and Sebastian had moved to sit down at a table in the Constance Billiard courtyard.

"So why didn't you tell me right away?" Danni asked pulling her bag off her shoulder and placing it beside her. It made a lot more sense now but she still didn't know he wouldn't tell her, he himself not long ago had said that they should talk to each other.

"Because I didn't want you to judge me" he admitted sitting beside her.

"I think we're passed that" she told him,

"And I didn't to have to put you in the position that you're in now" he explained "of having to choose between protecting me and helping yourself"

"How did you even get in?" she asked.

"I have a key" he told her "the end of freshman year I kind of date the captain of the girls swim team and she gave me the key so we could uh meet up there to uh-"

"Enough said" she assured him, she really didn't want to know those details "what happened next?"

"Well Blaine and I ran out of places to go and he knew I still had a key, before I knew it we were all there and I thought it was just going to be us guys but everyone got on their phone and everybody started showing up and I never thought anyone would get hurt" he explained.

"You can still Miss Queller" she said "I think she'd respect your honesty"

"As much as she respected Nat's?" Sebastian reminded her.

"No, Nat lied" Danni pointed out "and besides you're Sebastian Van Der Woodsen"

"You didn't know me before I went away" Sebastian said, head bowed fidgeting nervously with his hands "I barely got back into St Judes, if I get expelled I don't think any school in town will take me, I can't risk going back to boarding school, being away from you and Erica, but I don't want you to lose your future"

"Wow" Danni said, as Sebastian placed on hand over hers "you really can be damned if you do, screwed if you don't"

The PA system crackled to life above them.

"Danielle Humphrey, headmistress Queller is requesting to see you in her office after class"

….

"You're home early" Lily commented as Sebastian walked into their lounge and flopped down onto their sofa with a groan "please don't tell me you're expelled"

"Not yet" he mumbled into a cushion.

"Your position at that school is already too precarious, one false move and you know what, I can't do anything to help you" Lily reminded her son, shoving something into the bag she was packing. Sebastian groaned rolling over to lie on his back, covering his face with the cushion.

"I know" he mumbled "I know, I just want to hide under the covers and make it all go away" he lifted the pillow and noticed the bag she'd been packing "and apparently you do too, you and Bart just got back, why are you packing again?"

"I was just going to go for a little spa trip for the weekend" Lily told him.

"Why?" Sebastian asked "because you're so stressed from your vacation?"

Lily's cell phone rang at this point; thankfully the ringtone had long since been changed from the cheesy Christmas jingle. Sebastian picked it up and noticed the caller ID read 'Rufus'. He frowned and held the phone out for her. She took it and open noticing the caller ID rejected the call.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" he asked.

"No, I don't think I will" Lily replied.

"Mom?" he asked, sitting up "is Danni's dad the reason you haven't answered Bart's proposal?"

His mother didn't reply, so he slid off of the sofa.

"You can't" he told her "please mom, not this one"

"I will not base my personal life on your preferences" Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Danni is my girlfriend and I know we're too young to talk about forever but that's what it feels like" he told her.

"I know it does but-"

"But what?" he asked "tell me that Rufus is that important to you, tell me that whatever the two of you have is the most important thing in your life because that's what Danni is to me mom, the most important, I would rather be Charlie's step-brother then Danni's"

And as he was saying all this, it really hit him. He loved her, he actually loved her. He was head over heels for the girl and he really couldn't believe he was the lucky. His mother couldn't just rip it all away from him now, she just couldn't.

"Please don't do this to me" he begged.

"Danni means that much to you?" she asked.

"Yeah, she does" he replied, he had to tell the truth he knew that now Danni couldn't lose her future over something he had done, he'd dragged her into this, he had to get her out "in fact I have to go"

"Where are you going?" Lily asked

"School" Sebastian called back.

…..

"Miss Humphrey, you are here at Constance Billiard on a partial scholarship" Miss Queller reminded her thumbing through her record "you're second in your class, you have a stellar recommendation for Dartmouth from JL Hall, it seems that your dreams are well within your grasp"

"I guess they are" she replied unsure what else to say.

"But it seems as if you've fallen into a new crowd this year" Miss Queller said "dating Sebastian Van Der Woodsen"

"Is that on my file?" she asked wondering where Miss Queller was getting her information from.

"Who had the key to the school?" Miss Queller, her expression one of no nonsense.

"I don't know" she lied.

"Let me remind you one last time that you are in a different position than the others, you _need_ this school" Miss Queller reminded her. Not that she needed reminding her, her whole future was riding on this school. If she thought she had any other option than to sit her and lie she would've used it.

There was a knock on the door and Sebastian was shown into the room.

"Headmistress Queller" he said "I have something to tell you"

…

"Well I must say Mr Van Der Woodsen your record reads more like a rap sheet" Miss Queller said, flipping through Sebastian's file "you cut more sophomore classes then you attended, cheated on tests, talked back to teachers"

"Look I understand that this is a serious matter" Sebastian told her "that's why it's important to me that you know, being new here, that the person that you described isn't who I am anymore"

"And who are you now?" Miss Queller asked, putting his file down and lacing her fingers together.

"Well my grades are up, my attendance is nearly perfect and I've stayed out of trouble" he told her.

"Until now" she reminded him.

"I never intended for anything bad to happen" he said "and it may have taken some time but I am here now accepting responsibility for my actions, whatever you think is fair"

"Yes" Miss Queller said "let's discuss the consequences"

…

"I can't believe she didn't expel me" Sebastian said as he and Danielle walked down the school steps together.

"Yeah I know" Danni replied "it's shocking"

She couldn't but think if it had been somebody else, somebody like her that they would be expelled on the spot.

"25 hours of community outreach, that's not so bad" he said, a smile appearing on his face "I probably would've done it anyway because I'm on the committee"

"That had occurred to me" she said, looking down at her feet, she didn't remember her left shoe being so scuffed.

"What are you saying?" Sebastian asked, stopping as they reached the bottom of the steps.

"No, I'm not saying anything, believe me" she said beginning to walk again.

"So you don't believe what Miss Queller said about me being the poster child for the new honour code?" he asked, walking quickly to catch up with her "look I know for a fact that my mom didn't plead my case or donate anything, okay?"

"I didn't say a thing" she told him.

"You're not really turning this into an upstairs downstairs thing are you?" he asked as they reached the curb together.

"No, no you are, I'm being completely silent" she said shoving her cold hands into the pockets of her jacket "I'm just glad you're not expelled or leaving town any time soon, are you hungry?"

"Always" he told her "but you still believe that there's a double standard, that people like me get special treatment"

"Mr Van Der Woodsen?" a voice asked. Danni and Sebastian looked up to see a chauffeur leaning out of a very expensive looking dark car "your mother sent me to pick you up"

"Oh great" Sebastian said sarcastically "that was thoughtful"

"I think you get no special treatment at all" Danni teased "your life is completely uncharmed and average"

"It's okay" Sebastian told the driver, heading off down the street "I'll walk"

….

Lily had accepted Bart's proposal on her son's request. Bart had organised for their two families to celebrate together later that night at the Van Der Woodsen's residence. It wasn't like Charlotte or Bart had to travel very far they all lived in the same hotel after all.

The Van Der Woodsen's and the Bass's all stood in a small circle, each one of them holding a glass.

"It's a rare occasion to celebrate the merging of two families" Bart was saying "and I couldn't be happier to be here tonight to celebrate Lily's acceptance of my proposal, so to my lovely bride and my growing family" he raised his glass, the rest of them followed clinking them together.

"Mom looks as happy as grandma at last call" Erica commented to her brother several minutes later. Sebastian looked over at his mother who standing beside Bart Bass, smiling a very strained and uncomfortable looking smile.

"Yeah I know" he told her "it seems that Bart's personality or lack thereof is contagious"

Sebastian flinched slightly as Charlotte's arm wrapped around his shoulder.

"How glad are you to see our families merge bro?" she asked.

"So glad that if you ever call me that again it'll be the last thing you do" he snapped pulling her hand of him.

"Ah, our first brother sister squabble" Charlotte said "I hope you're going to make yourself available for more missed childhood memories, bathing together for example"

Sebastian rolled his eyes and turned away from her and back to Erica. What in the world had Blaine seen in Charlotte, that he didn't think he'd ever know.

Later that night Sebastian had moved to the sofa by himself. Bart joined him after a few minutes, leaving Lily to sit beside his future step son.

"So" he started "your new step sister told me about your problems at school, frankly I wasn't surprised what with propensity for recklessness and adventure"

"I'm sorry?" he asked turning to face the older Bass.

"Don't tell your mother but I made a call" he explained.

"You did what?" he asked. Danni had been right after all.

"It was harder than usual" Bart continued "that new headmistress of your is a real piece of work, I had to go over her head, sorry that I couldn't get the charge completely dropped but at least I go you the minimal sentence"

"I was just looking out for my family" Charlotte added sitting beside Sebastian and placing a hand on his arm, a hand that he quickly pulled off "the new Van Der Woodsen-Bass library should be completed for Erica's graduation"

Bart held back the laugh. Sebastian really couldn't see how paying people off was particularly funny.

"I can see I'll have my hands full with the two of you" Bart said teasingly, leaning in slightly.

"Excuse me" Sebastian said quickly standing "I need some air"

He moved quickly, grabbing his coat and leaving their room.

…..

Rufus was packing a few things into boxes when Sebastian walked into the loft. He had come to see Danni, spending time with her seemed to make everything brighter.

"Hey" Sebastian greeted, knocking on the open door.

"Aren't you supposed to be at your mom engagement thing?" Rufus asked.

"Yeah" he told him "I had to get out of there, it was getting a little hard to breathe, you know?"

"Yeah" Rufus replied studying the sheet of music in front of him "those parties can be that way"

"So are you packing up your music?" he asked.

"Nah, I just need to find something new to write about" Rufus assured him "and I will" Sebastian nodded, he felt sorry for Rufus but he was also quite glad that he hadn't stayed with his mother, because even if he had to put up with Charlotte Bass as his new step-sister at least he'd have Danni by his side.

"Hey" Danni greeted when he walked into her room. She was half sitting, half lying on her bed surrounded by books, writing in a notepad "you're a little overdressed for this study date that I didn't know we had"

"You were right" he told her "about everything"

"Want to talk about it?" Danni asked propping herself up on her elbows.

"No" he told her, sitting beside her "can I just sit here with you for a while?"

"Yeah" she told him, smiling and shuffling over a little.

"Chaucer?" he asked picking up one of the books.

"Yep, got a test on Friday" she replied.

"And it's Thursday" he said, moving backwards on the bed, he leaned over her grabbing a notebook and a pen before leaning back against the wall behind them. He pulled the lid of the pen with his teeth and handed both the notebook and pen to her. He opened the book and started to read the first page, Danni reading over his shoulder. She was slumped down on the bed so her head only came up to his shoulder. He took advantage of that and titled it towards him, kissing her on top of the head.


	13. Chapter 13: The Thin Line

**Chapter Thirteen: **The thin line between Charlie and Nat

Sebastian really did not what to be in the middle of a drug store picking out pregnancy test, he didn't even quite know how he'd gotten roped into this. Blaine had called him the night before and told him that Charlotte had said there was a possibility that she was pregnant from their encounter in the backseat of Charlotte's limo that was a story he really wished he hadn't heard. He'd agreed to pick up a pregnancy test for Blaine to give to Charlotte.

….

Jeremy yelled out in surprise upon seeing a Gossip Girl post about Sebastian Van Der Woodsen picking up pregnancy tests. His first thought was that he was picking them up for Danni, his sister, little Miss Responsible, pregnant? It didn't seem possible, it couldn't be possible. His yell attracted that attention of Danielle and Rufus who barged in through the door.

"Are you okay?" Danni asked.

"I'm fine" he told them "I was just uh testing my screaming to see its screaming efficiency"

Danni groaned running a hand through her hair. He'd always like her hair; she had gotten their fathers dark hair while Jeremy himself had ended up with his mother's blonde hair. He briefly wondered if her child would have hair like hers.

"What are you hiding?" Rufus asked moving to stand beside him. He attempted to opened the almost closed laptop screen.

"Dad stop" he told him "you're invading my privacy"

"This is a loft, you have no privacy" Danni retorted. She had moved from the doorway and was standing at his other side.

Above Jeremy's head Danni and her father shared a look, a conversation without words, and pulled the chair away, Jeremy still sitting on it.

"Danni!" he exclaimed as his sister went to open his laptop lid "you _really _don't want to see that"

His sister and father stopped in their tracks upon seeing the blog post.

"Jeremy would you excuse us?" Rufus asked.

"No, Jeremy stay" Danni snapped. Jeremy paused in the doorway unsure what to do.

"I don't know who he's buying those tests for but it's definitely not me, I'm not pregnant dad" Danni argued. Their father visibly relaxed and Jeremy breathed in sigh of relief.

"You don't think he's knocked up some other girl do you?" Jeremy asked "I mean everybody's heard the stories, he's not exactly got a record for staying faithful"

After seeing the look on his sister face he instantly regretted saying that, he definitely regretted putting the idea in her head.

"But things are different now aren't they?" he added "he's different"

"I thought he was" Danni replied.

….

Danielle really wasn't looking forward to going to school that day. Almost everybody at Constance Billard and St Judes read Gossip Girl; almost everybody had read Gossip Girl's post about her being pregnant. As she reached the school she noticed the numerous amounts of people staring at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her head down.

"You'll be fine" Jeremy told her, shooting her a smile, before he left for Saint Judes.

Sebastian was standing on the nearby steps, scanning the crowd. She attempted to avoid him and head straight for her first class but he spotted her and came rushing over.

"Hey, I've been calling you every five seconds for the past hour" he told her.

"I've had a lot on my mind" she replied "I left my phone at home"

"She's such a slut!" a girl sitting with a group of her friends exclaimed laughing. Danni felt sick, she wished she could go back to the days when nobody noticed her.

"I've got to go" she lied, walking past him "we'll talk later"

…..

"I've got the stuff" Sebastian told Blaine. They were standing on the Met steps, a few steps down from Blaine's group of friends which apparently did not include Jeremy Humphrey anymore; Sebastian had just seen the boy storm away from the group, not looking particularly happy.

"God Sebastian 'the stuff'?" Blaine asked "you're making this whole thing sound like a drug deal"

"Here" he said shoving the bag towards him "and don't ask me for anymore favours like this, most of the school thinks I've knocked up Danni, you should hear the names they're calling her"

"Oh, boo-who" Blaine replied mockingly "little Danni Humphrey has to deal with some name calling, I'm the one who might be a teenage father here"

"Well get her to take the test Blaine and then you know for sure" Sebastian told him "in the meantime I _really _think you should tell Nat about everything, you know how much it hurts to be lied to about this sort of stuff"

"You have no right to lecture me after what you did!" Blaine snapped "I'll get her to take the test okay but I'm not telling Nat _anything_"

…

"So, how is it working out?" Jeremy asked teasingly as the two of them walked into the loft together that afternoon "this whole avoiding your boyfriend thing?"

Danni looked up and over at her brother, tucking a lock of loose hair behind her ear.

"I'm not avoiding him" she argued.

"So you didn't practically run away from Erica and I at lunch because you saw Sebastian heading our way?" he asked "you really should talk to him, he's freaking out, thinks you're going to break up with him"

"Well I'm not" she assured him "it's just I can't get what you said about him this morning out of my head"

"You should" he said sitting down on a stool in front of the counter "what do I know about relationships or friends or anything really, just go talk to him already"

…

Almost an hour later there was a knock on the loft's front door. Jeremy who'd been spread out on the sofa flicking through a book he was supposed to be reading for school quickly jumped off the sofa and rushed to answer it, thankful for the distraction.

Sebastian Van Der Woodsen was standing on the other side of the door. He looked up when he opened it and smile at him.

"Hey Jeremy, is Danni in?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's in her room studying" he told him "but I think she has her earphones in so you're going to have to knock pretty loud"

Sebastian nodded and stepped into the loft, closing the door behind him before heading for Danni's door. Jeremy watched as he knocked, there was no reply so he knocked again after a few movements.

"Come in!" Danni finally called.

…

Danni was sitting on her bed when he walked into her room; it was very similar to his visit after the school party incident. She closed the book she was reading when she saw him and pulled her headphones out of her ears.

"Hey" she greeted with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I think we need to talk" he told her, she nodded moving over so he could sit beside her. He did, leaning back against the headboard; she twisted around so that they were sitting head to toe.

"Are you seeing someone else?" she asked, suddenly. For a second he thought she was joking but her expression was deadly serious. His relationship with Danielle was the first serious relationship he'd ever really been in, he would never throw away what they had for some meaningless fling with some other girl.

"I love you, I would never cheat on you" he told her. Her expression changed from one of seriousness to one of surprise.

"You love me?"

…..

He slammed the door behind him as he stormed into their room at the hotel. His conversation with Danni had no gone well at all. He really wished he'd never agreed to pick up that damn pregnancy test in the first place.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?" Erica asked. She'd been sitting on the nearby sofa and had just witness his dramatic entry.

"She asked me if I was sleeping with someone else" he told her as he sat down beside her.

"Well I hate to say it but I would've asked the same thing if I was her" Erica admitted.

"So much for sibling loyalty" he mumbled. Erica rolled her eyes, hitting him in the arm with the book he didn't know she'd been reading.

"Okay, one you really don't have a good track record, two, there were pictures of you on Gossip Girl buying pregnancy test while you are dating a girl who is definitely not pregnant and three a major factor in her parents' separation was the fact that her mother was sleeping with someone else" Erica listed.

"Why are you always so right?" he asked her, ruffling her hair. She shrugged, smoothing out the recently ruffled hair.

"One of has to be"

….

He called Danielle's cell not long after his conversation with Erica, he had to talk to her, to explain the whole situation. Danni answered surprisingly quickly.

"Hey Sebastian" she greeted. She sounded a lot happier then she had the last time they had talked. He still didn't know quite what to think of that particular conversation, she had accused him of cheating and while he did sort of understand that when he told her that he loved her, her only reply was 'you love me?'. The way she said it troubled him, it was like she simply couldn't believe that he was sitting in front of her telling her he loved her, like it just simply couldn't be possible.

"Hey" he replied. He was about to ask her something but she spoke before he could get it out.

"Are you busy tonight?" she asked "we should have dinner together, my place, six thirty?"

Although surprised by her invitation, he wasn't going to turn her down.

"Sure" he said "I'll be there"

….

Dinner at Danni's consisted of sitting on the floor, eating spaghetti bolognaise on plates resting on a small table, the room bathed in candle light. He wanted to appreciate the whole experience but he kept wondering if Blaine had convinced Charlotte to take the test yet, was his best friend going to be a father?

"Hey guys" Jeremy said behind them walking out of his room and into the kitchen, Sebastian had actually forgotten the younger Humphrey siblings was still in the loft.

"Hey Jeremy" Sebastian told him as Jeremy switched on the kitchen light and headed for the fridge.

"Go back to your room Jeremy" Danni told him.

"I'm just getting a juice" Jeremy shot back.

"Excuse me" Danni told Sebastian before joining her brother in the kitchen.

"Do you think maybe you go drink your juice at Van's?" she asked him.

"Don't worry, I'm going to go back to my room, close my door, put my headphones in and let you enjoy your date" he assured her, switching off the light and heading back across the loft towards his room.

"Thank you!" she called after him.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Danni finally spoke.

"It's been on my mind all day, can I ask who the pregnancy test was for?" she asked him. Sebastian looked up from the spaghetti he'd been currently smashing his fork repeatedly into.

"Blaine" he told her after a few moments pause.

"Is Nat pregnant?" Danni asked leaning forward slightly "didn't they _just _get back together?"

"It's not Nat" he told her "it's Charlotte"

"Charlotte as in Charlotte Bass?" she asked "wow, Blaine and Chuck"

"Chuck and Blaine" Sebastian added.

….

Sebastian found himself knocking on Charlotte's door after his date with Danni. He had to know if she was pregnant. Charlotte answered rather quickly, smirking at him as she opened the door.

"Hey Chuck" he greeted.

"Please call me sister" she told him. God, the thought of having Charlotte Bass as his sister made his skin crawl.

"I need to talk to you" he said, walking into the room.

"About me being knocked up?" she guessed, moving to sit on one of her bar stools "let me guess Blaine sent you?"

"No he didn't" he replied sitting beside her "I came here by myself I need to know if you took that test"

"Well I didn't" Charlotte told her, crossing one leg over another "because I never thought I was pregnant"

"Wait what?" he asked.

"I _knew _Blaine would tell you being that you two are so close these days" she explained, pushing some hair of off her shoulder "and I thought that you tell Nat or at least convince Blaine too, considering you are Mr Good Guy these days, I guess I over estimated you dear brother"

"Why the hell would you _want_ Nat to know?" he snapped at her.

"Didn't you hear?" Charlie asked "they slept together after the debutante ball, I think dear Natalie deserves to know that her sweetheart slept with her best friends days before ad besides if one of you tell her, my hands don't get any dirtier than they already are"

…..

"Hey I need to talk to you about something" was the first thing Danielle's father said to her when she walked into the kitchen the next morning.

"Okay, go ahead" she told him grabbing an apple for breakfast from the nearby fruit bowl.

"I need to know how you and Jeremy would feel if I went out tonight, for a drink, with a women" he said.

She bit her lip, thinking it through in her head. Why shouldn't her father go out with a woman on what she presumed to be a date? She was actually quite surprised by how okay she was with it.

"Well I guess I feel that...there won't be a second date if you wear that shirt" she teased.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really" she said nodding at him "really"

"Now I guess I just have to worry about Jeremy then" he said. As if on cue Jeremy left his bedroom at that moment, closing the door behind him and sitting on a stool beside his sister.

"Good morning" Danni greeted her brother.

"Hi" he replied.

"Morning sunshine" their father added. Jeremy paused, screwing up his face at Rufus shirt.

"Dad, where did you get that shirt?" he asked, picking up his own apple.

"What's wrong with this shirt?" Rufus asked.

"Nothing" Jeremy replied "as long as you're not planning on wearing that outside the house"

"Worse" Danni told him "he plans on wearing it on a date"

Slipping it in there like that rather than having a conversation about it would be easier for everyone Danni decided.

"For drinks, if that's okay?" Rufus asked him.

"Whatever" Jeremy told him, turning his attention back to the shirt "it's awful"

"I guess you have your answer" Danni said to Rufus.

"Huh?" Jeremy chimed in.

…..

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about you and Nat" Sebastian said to Blaine when he showed up at the Waldorf penthouse that morning. Blaine was obviously not expecting him to say that, his eyes widened and he sat up a little straighter.

"Why?" he asked "what did she say?"

"She didn't say anything, Chuck did when I went to talk to her about this" he replied.

"You had no right to go and talk to Chuck about this, this is my problem not yours" he hissed.

"I let my girlfriend take a public bullet for you Blaine, let a rumour about her run rampant, the whole school heard!" he reminded him, voice raising as he talked. He hated that he let Danni suffer to protect Blaine and Chuck; he hated it even more now that he knew that there was never a possibility of Charlotte being pregnant in the first place.

"Woah, woah" Eleanor exclaimed walking into the room "what is going on?"

"Ask Blaine" he snapped before storming out of the room.

…

He met up with Danni for lunch which made him feel a lot better about everything; she had that effect on him. Something seemed off about her, she kept rambling, first about how cold it was before going on to talk about the ginger ale they were drinking.

"Are you okay?" he asked her "you're doing that rambling thing again"

"Sorry" she said, taking a deep breath in an effort to calm herself "it's been a rough day that pregnancy rumour is still going around, I stayed up all night last night finishing my lit paper and I've got this big test last period"

"I'm sorry" he told her "about everything, about the whole pregnancy test thing, about giving you reason to believe that I would ever cheat on you, I know we haven't know each other all that long but – "

"My paper!" she exclaimed as the wind caught her lit paper, the one that she'd been talking about and blew it away from her. She jumped up from the bench and ran after it. Luckily the paper blew into a middle age man who collected it for her and handed it back.

"Thank you" she told him "I love you, thank you so much"

….

_"We need to talk come over to mine ASAP" _was all the message from Blaine had said. Even though the last time they'd spoken he'd stormed out he still turned up at Blaine's place, he was trying to be a good best friend after all.

"Hey Blaine" he greeted "what's going on?"

"I can't believe you told Jeremy about me and Charlotte" he said.

"I...I didn't" he told him. He didn't tell Jeremy anything, the only person he told was Danni.

"Because of him _everyone _knows the intimate details of my private life" Blaine went on to say "and Nat's not speaking to me"

"I told you Blaine, I didn't tell Jeremy, I don't know how he found out" Sebastian told him.

"Did you tell Danni?" Blaine asked.

"What?" Sebastian replied.

"You did, didn't you" Blaine snapped "you told your low-rent girlfriend and she told her social climbing brother and he went and blabbed to Nat"

"I can't believe you're attacking Danni and Jeremy" Sebastian said. Blaine rose from the lounge he'd been sitting on and walked over to stand in front of him.

"Did you or did you not tell her?" he asked. Sebastian didn't reply and Blaine made his own mind up based on this.

"I just wanted to help you" he tried to explain.

"You don't get it do you!" Blaine snapped "the rules are different for the Sebastian Van Der Woodsen's of the world, people expect you to go wild, party, sleep with whoever you want, run away, come back, you shot your reputation to hell a long time ago, it doesn't matter what you do but I'm a Waldorf!"

"Well since you and your reputation obviously don't need me and my low-rent tastes, you and the Waldorf name can weather this storm alone"

….

Danni was getting in as much study as she could before her test in the school courtyard when Sebastian walked over to her. He didn't look particularly happy; in fact he actually looked rather angry.

"You told Jeremy about Blaine and Charlotte" it wasn't even a question, it was a statement, he'd already made up his mind about her innocent or rather lack of innocence.

"What?" she asked "no, no I didn't"

"Well you're the only one I told" he explained.

"And I didn't tell anyone" she assured him.

"How can I know that?" he asked.

"Because you have to trust me Sebastian" she said sliding off the table she'd been sitting on "I gave you my word"

"I love you Danni, please don't lie to me" he told her. She didn't reply, she completely stopped in her tracks, hands the hand been holding onto his arms dropped to her sides.

"What?" she asked.

"I love you and not just because I was try to convince you of my faithfulness and not in the way you love some random guy who picks up your lit paper" he explained to her. She could barely believe what he was saying, people like him didn't just love people like her. Why in the world would he love her, she really didn't see anything particularly loveable about herself.

"Oh..okay" she managed to say after a few silent moments.

"Okay?" he asked "that response is not okay"

He picked up his school bag and walked away leaving her standing in the courtyard with her book, alone.

…

He found Erica lying on the sofa when he got home, pillow beneath her head, earphones in her ears. He leaned over her and pulled them out.

"Am I unlovable?" he asked.

"Let me guess, Danni?" Erica reply. He nodded and Erica moved to sit up, groaning as she did so. Sebastian instantly moved to sit beside her.

"I was asking her if she told Jeremy about Blaine and Charlotte and I ended up telling her I loved her and all she said was okay" he explained.

"Wait, go back a second" Erica said "not that I even know what this is about but why would you think she would tell Jeremy about Blaine and Charlotte?"

"Because I'm the only one who knew and she was the only one I told" he said.

"Do you know how many times I've been listening in on your conversations when you thought I wasn't?" Erica asked. That really wasn't what he wanted to hear, he wondered how many conversation Erica had been eavesdropping in on. Although it did explain how Jeremy knew, he had been in the loft that night.

"None I hope" he told Erica.

"You hoped wrong" she told him "I'm a little sister, it's what I do and you don't have to be a genius to figure out the I love you thing, I mean her parents probably said it all the time and we all know how that ended and from what I've heard from Jeremy the only guy that she had feelings for before moved to Vermont the day after she told him she loved him"

….

Sebastian was surprised to say the least when he found Danni knocking on his door a few hours later.

"Hey" he greeted as she walked past him and into the hotel "what are you doing here?"

"I need to know why" she said pulling her coat tighter around herself "I need to know why you love me"

"Because I do" he tried to explain, moving to stand in front of her, she pulled her hands out of her coat pockets and he place his into hers.

"I want to believe you" she said "I really do but I can't figure out why you would love somebody like me, can you please just tell me why?"

"There that's why" he said "because you're one of the most beautiful, kindest, sweetest, smartest, most amazing people that I've ever met but for some reason you still think I'm somehow better then you, you make me feel like I'm good enough for you Danni, like I'm worth it, you make everything seems so much brighter just by being around and you're completely unaware of your effect on me"

She smiled a little, squeezing his left hand.

"You're amazing" she finally said, leaning forward and kissing him lightly "and I love you"

"While I would love to stay here with you, I have to go" he told her "I really have to sort this stuff out with Blaine before it gets any worse, I can get somebody to drive you home if you'd like?"

"No" she told him "I'll be fine, you go and be the amazing friend you are"

"I love you" he said to her as he grabbed his coat,

"I love you too" she told him. He would never get tired of hearing that, it was like music to his ears.

…

Sebastian taxi pulled up in front of where Blaine was standing, luggage pack and standing in front of an aircraft he was about to board.

"What?" Blaine asked when he saw him "want to a lift to JFK?"

"Your mom told me you were going to Paris tonight" he explained.

"Well she has a big mouth" Blaine replied.

"I'm your best friend, she was shocked I didn't know" he told him.

"Well know you do" Blaine shot back.

"What I know is how you felt when I left without telling you" he reminded him. Blaine was silent for a few moments and Sebastian thought he had actually got through to him.

"Is there a reason you're here?" he finally asked.

"Stay" Sebastian told him "don't let some stupid scandal make you run away, like it did me, like it does everyone in our world"

Blaine dropped his head, looking down at the ground, the walls he'd put up crumbling before Sebastian's eyes.

"Everything horrible" he eventually said "my whole life has fallen apart"

"Well then rebuild it" Sebastian argued "you're a Waldorf remember, people don't tell you who you are, you tell them, stay and fight, I'll fight with you"

"You promise?" he asked. Sebastian nodded.

"I promise"


	14. Chapter 14: The Blaine Bitch Project

**Chapter Fourteen: **The Blaine Bitch project.

Sebastian had been in good mood after exchanging 'I love you's' with Danni and convincing Blaine to stay but like always Charlotte just had to rain on his parade. Charlotte had barged into Sebastian's bathroom while he was pulling out his school uniform, closing the door behind her and turning on the shower. He threw down his clothes on his bed and stomped over to the bathroom door, banging loudly on it.

"Chuck, I'm serious!" he yelled to her "are you done yet? This is my bathroom! It's getting late"

He couldn't wait anymore; if he put off showering any longer he would definitely be late for school. He hesitantly pushed open the door, praying that he wouldn't see anything that would scar him for life. He found Charlotte sitting on the bathroom counter, smoking.

"What the hell are you doing?" he snapped, putting out her cigarette in the sink "I can't believe you lit up in here"

Charlotte rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall behind her.

"Well if I did it in mine, then the folks would know it was bro" she retorted

He was really getting tiered of her calling him that.

"Okay let's get one thing straight" he snapped at her "our parents may be intent on merging our families but I am not your brother, I do not share any of your DNA nor do I ever wish to"

Charlotte twisted around, sliding her legs off the counter so that she was sitting rather than lying.

"Can you please leave now?" he asked her "I need to have a shower"

Charlotte didn't make any effort to leave the room; she merely pulled her legs back up onto the counter.

"Fine, fine" he snapped storming out of the bathroom, running a hand through his hair in frustration "I give up"

…..

"So first day back at school hey?" Lilly asked as Sebastian, Charlotte and Erica joined her and Bart for breakfast. She took in the sight of Sebastian's hair. It wasn't like it was all that bad really, just a little more messy and slightly greasier then it should be, but his mother had always been good at noticing things like that.

"Honey, you didn't want to shower?" she asked. Charlotte held back a laugh while Sebastian internally screamed.

"I've got to meet Blaine" he told his mother, he paused at the door "Erica?"

"Stay" Charlotte told her future step-sister "we'll take the limo"

Erica hesitantly shook her head at her brother; Sebastian gave her a look that he hoped said 'don't listen to Chuck'.

…..

Danni had spent her break at her mother's and was really glad to be back home, not that she didn't like spending time with her mother and Alex her mother's fling turned boyfriend, okay so maybe she actually didn't like spending time with Alex, but it was really good to spend time with her mother it was just that she missed home and Sebastian and Jeremy and her dad and god forbid she actually missed Blaine Waldorf.

"I came straight from the airport to take Jeremy to school and he's already gone?" she asked.

"He slept at Henry's last night" Rufus explained pouring orange juice into a glass from a pitcher.

"Who's Henry?" she asked. The name seemed vaguely familiar but she just couldn't put a face to the name.

"The boy whose family he went with to Aspen" he told her.

"Yeah, I was actually surprised you let him go, cancel on mom like that" she said cutting into one of her dad's famous waffles, another thing she'd missed.

"Well you mom was in complete support of it" he said "and Jeremy was very well taken care of, I spoke to him every day, twice from the private plane"

"Private plane?" she asked, Jeremy would've loved that.

"Best early birthday present we could've given him" Rufus said with a grin.

"So, did you pay for it?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I gave him pocket money" he said, turning to pour himself a cup of coffee "yeah Jeremy's happier then he's been in a long time"

Jeremy being happy was great especially after everything with their parents but he seemed to be turning into a mini Blaine Waldorf and that made her feel quite sick.

"Hey, whenever you're done with that 'I'd do things differently look'" Rufus teased turning back around to face her "two things, one, I can't seem to nail Jeremy down on what he wants to do for his actual birthday"

"I'll get it out of him" she told him.

"Good and two…" he paused looking up at the clock hanging on the nearby wall "what the hell are you still doing here?"

She followed his gaze and got a good look at the time. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry.

"Thank you" she told him jumping off the stool, grabbing her things and racing out the door.

…..

"At least you get to wake up from your nightmare" Sebastian pointed out after Blaine had finished telling him about the dream he'd had this morning "I have to live with mine, thank god I have plans with Danni tonight, finally the return of some normalcy!"

As they got close to the school Blaine stopped in his tracks. Sebastian had noticed his friends attempt at disguising himself; he was wearing large, dark sunglasses and was wearing a coat over his St Jude's blazer with the hood pulled right up, he knew Blaine really wasn't looking forward to going back to school but avoiding it was just stupid.

"What are you doing?" he asked him turning around to face him.

"Giving home schooling some serious thought" he bit back.

"Look" Sebastian started as the two of them began walking together again "I know you think everyone is still talking about you but your three week old scandal is old news, did you even know the dirt that happened over break?"

"Who would I have heard it from?" he asked "Dororta?"

"Well Kade's dad moved their whole family back to Israel"

Kade had never really been a true friend to Blaine, not like Sebastian, he was more like a minion. But Blaine was still sad to hear that he'd left the country, apparently for good.

"Oh and St Judes, bad boy turned good Sebastian Van Der Woodsen has officially moved in with Charlotte Bass" Sebastian added putting on quite a theatrical voice. Blaine laughed a little; he would probably be hearing how horrible it was living with Charlotte for a long time yet.

"So you think this whole thing has probably blown over by now?" Blaine asked. Sebastian nodded and stopped in the street, holding out his hand for the sunglasses, reluctantly Blaine handed them over.

"That too!" Sebastian exclaimed, pulling down Blaine's hood.

Blaine's scandal had not blown over as much as Sebastian had thought everyone seemed to be staring and whispering as the two of them walked into the school grounds. Nat who was standing by the steps, smiling and talking to some other Constance girls, glared at Blaine when she spotted him before hurrying up the stairs.

As if Blaine had not been humiliated enough, a spoonful of white yoghurt dropped down from above them, landing in Blaine's hair. Blaine looked up in horror at his old friends/minions who were standing above them; Jeremy Humphrey the obvious culprit grinned to himself, toying with his spoon.

Sebastian gave him a look of disapproval before hurrying inside with Blaine.

….

"Ugh" Blaine commented upon spotting Jeremy join his new group of friends on the Met steps "does he really think he's anything but their lackey?"

"I don't think it's like that" Sebastian told them "they're taking him out for his birthday tomorrow"

"They're what?" Blaine exclaimed.

"They're taking him out for his birthday" Sebastian repeated.

"Little Jeremy Humphrey is officially being inscribed on A-List" Blaine said with a groan, dropping his head into his hands "wait how do you know this?"

"They invited me" he admitted "but I said no in deference to you, I just thought I could have dinner with him and Danni and the whole family"

"How do you manage to get out of everything unscathed?" Blaine asked.

"Because I'm nice" Sebastian replied "you should try it sometime"

Blaine let out a very sarcastic laugh.

"Very funny" he muttered.

"No, I'm being serious, just try it okay" Sebastian told him, Blaine rolled his eyes.

Sebastian and Blaine watched Jeremy and Blaine's old friends moved off the steps and onto the sidewalk.

"What is he doing?" Blaine snapped when Jeremy started heading their way.

"Giving you the perfect opportunity to be nice" Sebastian chimed in.

"Uh, Sebastian I know that you're doing something with Danni tonight but Blaine-" Jeremy was saying, Blaine only really started paying attention when he heard his name "-we're all going to Butter tonight, if you wanted to join us"

"He'd be delighted!" Sebastian exclaimed answering for him, if Blaine wasn't going to be nice then he as Blaine's best and apparently only friend was going to have to do it for him.

"Great" Jeremy told them before heading back to his friends.

…

Danni found herself in Sebastian's bedroom that afternoon, lying under Sebastian on his bed.

"You look so good today" she told him as he kissed her neck. It was fantastic to see him again after spending their breaks apart. She hadn't been able to see him much at school as he seemed to be glued to Blaine Waldorf's side and she knew how things would go if she tried to spend time with Sebastian if Blaine was around

"Have you always looked so good?" she asked. He pulled away from her and laughed a little.

"You look so good to me" he told her "and you smell so clean"

"You're not going to tell me the Chuck shower story again are you?" she asked.

"No" he said "no, I'm sorry"

"Good" she said with a small laugh as he leant down to kiss her on the lips. She reached a hand upwards, placing it on his back and gripping his t-shirt. There was a knock on the door and he pulled away, rolling off of her so they were lying side by side. She tilted her head back to see who had interrupted them it was Chuck, great just what she needed.

"Danielle" she greeted with a curt nod.

"Charlotte" Danni replied "how are you?"

"Excellent" Charlotte replied leaning against the door frame "enjoying having family around"

"Can you just get it over with Chuck?" Sebastian asked as Danielle turned over and propped herself up on her elbows "say whatever pervy thing you have to say and leave"

"The wedding caterer is here to present a tasting to the family" Charlotte explained "I was coming to call you to dinner"

"Well I'll take off then" Danni said begin to move off the bed.

"No need" Charlotte said and Danni stopped in her tracks "I already ask the staff to set a place for you"

….

Thankfully there was only a few minutes of awkward food tasting before they were interrupted with by a member of the staff who brought in a package for Sebastian and the attention was turned away from the food.

"Who's it from?" Erica asked.

"I don't know" he admitted, reaching for the card attached "all it says is 'open immediately"

He placed the large box down onto the table in front.

"Oh no" Lily told him "don't put your dirty package on the table"

"If I had a dime for every time I heard that" Charlotte said, Erica was the only one who seemed amused.

"That's enough Chuck" Bart told his daughter, shooting her a warning glance. Sebastian moved the box into his lap and pulled off the lid, under the white tissue paper he found….

"Porn and handcuffs?" he snapped at Charlie assuming that this had been her idea of a joke "really?"

"Oh my" Lily said.

"W..wow" Danni added.

"This is low Chuck, even for you" he told his future step-sister, shoving the box at her, before storming out of the room.

"What?" Charlotte asked pushing the box away "I didn't send this"

Danni leaned forward and placed her plate onto the table before standing.

"If you'll excuse me" she said.

"Oh could you..." Lily trailed off pointing to the box that had been left before.

"Sure" she told her reaching for it "my pleasure" realising what she had said she paused "no that's not what I – I didn't mean -, this is trash, I'll throw it out"

….

"Hey why aren't you at school?" Sebastian asked Blaine when he answered Blaine's call.

"Taking the morning off" Blaine said on the other end, he sounded a hell of a lot happier than he had yesterday "volunteering to help those less fortunate then myself"

"You sound happy" Sebastian noted "Butter with the guys go well?"

"I didn't go actually" Blaine told him "I figure they should work a little harder for my forgiveness, hey Danni's not hanging out in Brooklyn again this morning, she there at school with you right?"

"Um…no, not yet" Sebastian told him "but she'll be here soon, why?"

"Just tell her I say hi" he said before hanging up on him. Well that was strange, not the hanging up on him part Blaine was awfully fond of doing that but his sudden interest in Danni's whereabouts, yes that part was very strange.

"I've got uh three cases of champagne for a Sebastian Van Der Woodsen?" a delivery man asked approaching him/

"That's me" he told him "but I didn't order this"

"Well the purchase order is never wrong" the man said, dumping the crates in the middle of the courtyard before walking away.

Sebastian looked across the courtyard and spotted Charlotte staring at him, it was practically a glare. He supposed this was her work, who else would pull a stunt like this.

...

"And here's the second choice for the centrepiece" someone was telling Lily as Sebastian walked into the room, probably one of the people that his mother had paid to help with the wedding, the whole place had been swarming with people lately.

"Well we could put it on a Mylar tablecloth and pretend it's a Bar mitzvah" Lily said rather sarcastically playing with one of the flowers in front of her.

"Ah, there you are!" Lily exclaimed when she saw him,

"I've got a date with Danni" he told her, he didn't have time to stick around.

"Could you excuse us?" Lily asked the people that had been surrounding her; they quickly left, probably to come up with a better centrepiece idea.

"You gonna say something worse than the Bar mitzvah remark?" he asked teasingly.

"Sebastian, I think we should talk about any feelings you might be having about my upcoming marriage" Lily said. Honestly Sebastian was pretty okay with that, he wasn't okay about Charlotte becoming his step-sister though but the whole marriage thing he as okay with it all.

"Okay" he said hesitantly sitting down on the nearby sofa "and you choose now to talk about this, why?"

"Because you're headmaster call me today" Lily told him sitting beside him "who said there was something about a case of alcohol, I thought you may be acting out"

Oh that. He was still pretty damn sure it had been Charlotte again.

"Right mom, I actually woke up this morning and thought 'hmm I'm a little uncertain about my mother's wedding, why don't I invite the entire junior class out to the courtyard for a Champagne toast'" he sarcastically told her.

"You have pulled stuff like this before" she reminded him.

Hmm. Maybe he should start wearing a giant neon sign that read 'I'm different now', because people really didn't seem to be getting it.

"Obviously Chuck's master plan is working" he snapped.

Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes and tipping her head back.

"I can't believe you think Charlotte is doing these things" she said.

"Looking good to everyone in my life isn't good enough for her she has to make me look bad or crazy!" he exclaimed.

"Well Charlotte may be eccentric but I doubt she's diabolical" Lily said in an attempt to defend her. Neither Van Der Woodsen noticed Bart Bass in the room until he spoke.

"What's she done now?" he asked.

…..

Sitting outside the hotel, draped in a red blanket, drinking hot chocolate with Danni, Sebastian was in the best mood he'd been in all day, although that could be due to the fact that Charlotte may just be finally getting her comeuppance.

"You can't believe how mad Bart was" Sebastian told her. She laughed a little, tossing her head back.

"Yes, yes I can" she told him "because you told me about three times"

"I wonder what they're going to do to her" he continued "I wish I could see his face"

"You know, I've got some stories too" Danni told him "about seeing my mother for the first time since she left at Christmas"

"I'm the worst boyfriend" he said. He hadn't even thought about how Danni had spending time with her mother over the break.

"No you're not" she replied "and then there's the funny visit to my grandma at the old folks home, two woman, a sponge bath and a bedpan"

He let out a laugh before taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm sorry" he told her "I want to be here right now with you"

He leaned forward, kissing her.

"And Nat" Danni said as they pulled apart. Natalie Archibald was walking through the gates and heading their way.

"Hey guys" she greeted, hands shoved in her pockets to keep them warm.

"Hey" Sebastian told them.

"Sorry to interrupt" Nat politely told them "your mom told me that you guys were here; can I speak to you for one second Danni?"

Well that was strange. What would Natalie Archibald want to talk to her about?

"Um, yeah, yeah" she told her, shrugging the blanket off her shoulders and standing up, placing her cup down beside Sebastian and following Natalie a few steps away.

"Hey have you talked to your brother today?" she asked.

"No, why what's going on?" Danni asked. She hadn't seen her brother much at all lately; he'd been really busy with his new friends lately.

"I don't know" Nat told her "he just called me, really freaked out, didn't know where to turn, asked to borrow eight thousand dollars"

Oh god, what had he done now?

"What, why?" she asked.

"I don't know" Nat said "I tried to get him to tell me what was going on but he wouldn't tell me anything"

….

Nat had stayed with him for a while after Danni had left to talk to her brother. It was nice to talk to her again; Nat had always been fun to talk to when they weren't fighting. They hadn't talked in such a long time and although he had wished Danni could've stayed for longer, talking to Nat still made for a pretty good night.

"I really should get going" she said finally, standing up.

"Thank you for staying with me while I hid out from my house of horrors" he told him, picking up his blanket as he stood.

"No problems" Nat replied as the two of them began walking towards the gate.

"Do you think Jeremy will be alright?" he asked, pausing on the hotel side of the gate.

"Yeah" Nat told him "Danni's a good person, she'll take care of him"

"You are too" Sebastian told her "you know, a good person, a forgiving person, a person who couldn't possibly pit herself against Blaine for ever"

Nat chuckled which Sebastian took as a no. It was a pity the three of them had always been so close, Nat, Blaine and Sebastian and now that Sebastian and Blaine were friends again and so were Nat and Sebastian, they were so close to being all back together again.

"Goodnight" Nat told him before walking away. It was worth a try.

"Hey" Erica greeted, walking in the same way that Nat had just left.

"Hey" Sebastian replied "where have you been?"

"Therapy" she replied.

"For four hours?" Sebastian asked, surely that couldn't be right.

"Well before I was playing Wii Tennis with Chuck at this girl named Bernadine's house" she explained.

"Why are you hanging out with her?" Sebastian asked her. Wasn't it enough that his mother thought Chuck was great now she had Erica on her side too? Before long Danni would be Chuck's best friend, he practically shuddered at the thought.

"Bernadine?" Erica asked, Sebastian rolled his eyes and begun to walk back towards the hotel.

"She's fun okay!" Erica argued "she's cool to me; she doesn't treat me like a freak who just got out of the Ostroff centre"

"Who treats you like that?" he asked.

"The girls at Constance, the guys at St Judes, ah Sook at the Korean deli on 75th street" Erica shot back.

"Erica"

"And she's not always, careful around me, like one little thing and I'm going to break" Erica continued "besides I've always wanted a sister, I'm trying it out you know" she paused, pulling an envelope out of her coat and handing it to her brother "here"

"What's this?" he asked.

"Chuck said it came for you this morning, she thought you might want to open it outside the house" Erica explained. After all the surprise 'presents' he'd been receiving lately that was probably for the best.

"Why didn't she bring it to me herself?" he asked hesitantly ripping it open.

"Because she thought you wanted her to stay away from you" Erica pointed out.

Sebastian pulled out the contents of the envelope and was disgusted to find a small baggy of cocaine.

"Is that coke?" Erica asked.

"How do you like a sister who uses you as a drug mule?" he snapped shoving the envelope in her direction before storming into the hotel. He need to talk to Charlotte immediately.

…..

"Woah, who turned 12?" Danni joked upon stepping into the loft and noticing the childish party decorations her dad was slowly beginning to pack away.

"Don't rub it in" he told her. She paused for a moment trying to think of something to say before walking over to her father and rubbing the paper balloon decoration above their heads between two fingers.

"Dad, what happened?" she asked.

One odd story, that somehow makes her hate Blaine Waldorf even more, later Danni finds herself knocking on her brother's door. It's already open and she can see him lying on his bed hugging his pillows so when she doesn't get an answer she just walks right in, it's not like he hasn't done the same to her hundreds of time.

She sat beside him on the bed and ran a hand over his shoulder, rubbing his back in what she hoped was a comforting way. He slowly lifted his head up to look at her.

"You okay?" she asked, he didn't reply "do you want to tell me why you needed to borrow eight thousand dollars"

"Not really" he replied picking at a loose thread on his blanket "I can't believe Nat told you"

"Well she was worried about you" Danni explained "worried that you might be turning into some hideous Upper East cyborg"

"She said that?" he asked.

"No I did" she admitted and Jeremy finally cracked a smile.

"I just got in way over my head" he started to explain "you know I thought I could borrow the clothes, trade them for something to wear for the night and then return it and get them back"

"Should I be worried that you care so much about clothes?" she teased. He rolled his eyes.

"It's not so much about the clothes" he told her "it's about the money; you need expensive stuff to fit in with these kids"

"I still don't see why you want to fit in with those kids" she admitted "they sound like complete jerks"

"I'm not you Danni" he said after a few silent moments "I'm not little Miss perfect daughter, with the brains and the morals and the perfect future and the perfect boyfriend"

"No, but you're Jeremy" she said "you're the one with the social skills and the big heart and hopefully enough brains to keep your individuality, you're not a sheep Jeremy, you're really not, you're your own person and a great one at that, remember that"

He smiled again and she felt like maybe she said the right thing.

"Well it's still your birthday so why don't we go out and get some ice-cream?" she asked him.

"Sounds good" he told her.

Her father apparently does not share the same opinion.

"He's grounded" he told her, sounding rather angry "he's not going anywhere"

"Dad, I promised him" she tried to explain.

"Well since you're not the decision maker he's just going to have to deal with it" her dad told her.

"Fine" she says giving in; it's really not worth the fight "I'll just go and tell him"

She headed back to Jeremy's room and noticed almost instantly that he wasn't in the spot she'd left him in, nor was he anywhere in the room.

"Damn it" she muttered to herself darting out of the room.

"He's gone" she said to Rufus, who sat up straight when he heard that.

"What?" he asked.

"He's not in his room" she told him already dialling Jeremy's number on her cell "he's gone"

She'd gone away for three weeks and her brother turned into someone who stole clothes and snuck out of the house, maybe she should never leave again, maybe then she wouldn't have to worry about him like, although in all honesty she's more angry than worried. Jeremy can handle himself; he's not in any danger, apart from what was waiting for him at home when he resurfaced, Rufus was probably never going to let him leave the house again.

…

"What the hell is your problem?" Sebastian snapped at Charlotte when he found her leaving her room.

"Specify your context" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You disgust me Chuck" he told her shoving the drugs at her "how dare you involve Erica in this? No wonder you're friendless and boyfriend-less even your own father expects the worst from you!"

"Well you saw to that" she replied and she actually sounded hurt. He's never really seen her hurt before.

"Listen if we're going to exist under the same roof we're going to have to lay down some house rules" he said, he can't put up with any of this anymore, especially now that Erica's being involved.

"No need your highness" she snapped at him "Bart already kicked me out; I'm moving back into my suite"

"What?" he asked, he wasn't expecting Bart to go that far. For the first time since he came to talk to her, he notices the bags packed behind her.

"I thought it would be best if the family bonded without me for a while" she said and he actually feels sorry for her. He himself had done some pretty horrible stuff but his mother had never kicked him out of his own home.

…...

Not long after his conversation with Charlotte Sebastian joined his family downstairs. They were listening to samples of music for the wedding and both Lily and Bart seemed pretty pleased with what they were hearing. Erica who was sitting at the opposite end of the sofa was obviously mad at him over getting Charlotte kicked out, judged on the way she pulled her arm away when touched it.

A female staff member with dark hair, tied up on the top of her head and dressed in a gold vest tapped him on the shoulder and held a tray in front of him, envelope on top of it. He took it, smiling and thanking her before ripping it open.

'Oh god' he thought as he read that note.

…..

Charlotte was very surprised to find Sebastian at her door later that night; she was even more surprised by the fact that he didn't look extremely pissed at her, a significant improvement over their last conversation already.

"Hey" he greeted, looking pretty guilty "I'm really sorry Charlie, I know it wasn't you that sent me that stuff"

He held out a note for her to read.

_S_

_Hope you liked you presents_

_Coming back to town_

_G_

'Oh god' she though upon seeing it 'this is not going to end well'.

"Why don't I make you a drink?" she suggested. Sebastian slowly nodded and followed her into the room.


	15. Chapter 15: Desperately Seeking Seb

**Chapter Fifteen: **Desperately Seeking Sebastian

She was one wrong answer from giving up and banging her head against the wall repeatedly. Danni usually did really well with academic related tests but there was just something about tests that made her panic, especially ones as big and important as the SAT's.

She had never been able to deal with pressure very well at all.

Danielle jumped when her father opened her door, almost dropping the practice test off of her lap.

"Dad, don't _ever_ do that again" she told him, running a hand through her hair.

"Just doing what I was told" he replied, holding up his wrist to look at his watch "you told me to tell you when time was up and time is up"

"Yes but the manner in which you went about it, it was like you were deliberately trying to humiliate me" she told him.

"How bad?" he asked.

"Half" she said with a groan, throwing down the pencil she'd been using "I finished exactly half in the allotted time"

"Well you're a smart kid – "

"I'm a choker" she said, demonstrating this by placing an open hand on her neck "I choke"

"Just in your head" Rufus tried to assure her.

"T-ball, first grade, remember this?" she asked "bases loaded and I struck out"

"You were six" he reminded her.

"The ball was on tee, not moving" Danni pointed out "it wasn't all that hard"

"You'll be fine" he told her.

"You're basing that on what exactly?" she asked.

"Blind faith" he said with a shrug.

"Bye!" Jeremy called from out in the other room.

"Wait" Rufus told him. Jeremy was still in trouble with Rufus over his birthday shenanigans, so he had been keeping an extra close eye on him lately. Usually Danni would feel at least a little bit sympathetic towards him but this time she really wasn't in the mood for sibling loyalty, the last time she tried he'd snuck out of the house. Besides she had the SAT's to focus on anyway.

"I'm going to be late" Jeremy pointed out moving towards the door.

"I'm coming with you" Rufus told him, picking up his coat and Jeremy stopped in his tracks.

"You're walking me to school" he asked incredulously.

"I need the exercise" Rufus shot back.

"I made one mistake, I don't need a human ankle monitor" Jeremy began to argue.

"You used to beg me to walk you to school, you'd cry if I didn't walk you to class" Rufus told him.

"That wasn't me that was Danni" Jeremy reminded him.

"True" Danni added, moving from her bedroom to sit on one of the stools at the counter behind Jeremy and Rufus "but I was six, it was a difficult time, post t-ball"

"Jeremy, what you did was really wrong and out of character, grounding you isn't just about punishing you, we need to spent some time together, reconnect" Rufus went on to say.

Danni was actually beginning to wonder if it actually was out of character for him these days, he seemed to be pulling more and more stunts like this.

"I want that too" Jeremy said "just not in public and in front of my friends"

Rufus sighed and gave in.

"Alright, dinner tonight" he told him.

"Alright, but I have choir rehearsal tonight" Jeremy reminded him.

"You're still on the choir?" Danni asked "I swear you quit that"

"No, no I didn't" Jeremy told her, slamming the door behind him as he left the loft.

….

Over the last few days Sebastian time had been divided into two parts, looking for George or studying for the SAT's. He was working on the second part at school at Blaine that morning, sitting at a table in the courtyard.

"2200" Blaine announced "fair"

"It's in the ninety eight percentile" Sebastian pointed out.

"Which means Noel Yuki probably got 2300" Blaine said.

"Wait, you don't even talk to Noel why do you care what score he got?" Sebastian asked

"Noel Yuki has his sights set on Yale too" Blaine told him "what are the odds of them accepting two guys from St Judes?"

Blaine had been obsessed with getting into Yale for as long as Sebastian could remember. He really should've known that was what the whole Noel Yuki thing had been about.

"And have you seen Noel Yuki's extracurriculars?" Blaine asked "I need to kick his well-rounded ass"

"And they say you've lost your edge" Sebastian teased.

"Noel Yuki must be destroyed" Blaine practically hissed.

"Why do you keep saying his name?" Sebastian asked.

"Because he's Noel Yuki" Blaine simply said, he turned away from Sebastian and noticed Charlotte Bass heading their way, Charlotte was decked out in a long bright orange coat pulled over her Constance uniform, that actually looked like it would go well with the bright yellow one that Blaine was currently wearing, it would be kind of like sunshine if only Blaine didn't have that look of disgust on his face every time he saw her.

"Ew, incoming, Chuck" he said, gathering his things "you ready?"

"Nah, I've got to wait for Danni, she's pretty stressed" Sebastian told him "apparently she doesn't do well with tests"

"Performance anxiety?" Blaine teased as he walked away, glaring at Charlotte as he did so.

"He really needs to tone down on the social niceties" Charlotte told him sarcastically as he sat down beside him "it's embarrassing"

"Eventually the two of you are going to have to sort out your issues" Sebastian told her.

"What issues?" she asked "I'm issues free and based on my exhaustive research so are you"

"George?" he asked.

"According to my very reliable sources George Sparks is nowhere near our fair isle, he's in Switzerland"

"Thank god" he told her. It was like a huge weight had been lifted of his shoulders.

…

Danni ran into Natalie Archibald on her way into school. She was dressed very casually; a sports bag swung over one shoulder and a soccer ball in hand.

"SAT's?" Nat asked noticing the books Danni was carrying.

"Yeah" Danni replied as they began walking up the steps together, she nodded her head towards the soccer ball Nat was carrying "and soccer? Why not give the old ball a kick, seasons just around the corner in _October_, no, no I have to stop doing that I just need to focus on myself and my and my test, what other people do or don't do is about them, absolutely"

"Not a good tester hey?" Nat teased. Danni paused and took a deep breath as Nat went on ahead. All this SAT stuff was making her crazy, she really just wanted the whole to be over already so life could go back to normal.

Two hands suddenly appeared out of nowhere covering her eyes and tilting her head back to kiss her on the lips.

"Oh Chuck I had no idea you felt that way about me" she joked.

"Good to know you're at least still kind of funny" Sebastian told her. They started walking towards the school, arms linked together.

"Hey sorry I've been kind of off the radar lately" Sebastian apologized.

"New home, new family" she said "it's okay"

"Yeah" he replied "I've been kind of overwhelmed"

"I've been a little overwhelmed myself lately" Danni said.

"Want to hang out?" he paused wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss "study?"

"Oh, I want to take whatever SAT course you're taking" she said. She wished she could be in the kind of good mood he was, he didn't' seemed to be stressed at all.

"Well it's not too late" Sebastian told her, kissing her once more.

"I've got to go" she told him, grinning at him as she walked away.

"You always did know how to leave 'em wanting more" a familiar voice said.

"George?"

A familiar brunette walked towards him and Sebastian smile instantly dropped. So much for Switzerland.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh I told you I was coming" George reminded him "didn't you get my gifts?"

"But you're supposed to be in Switzerland" Sebastian said. George shrugged.

"Luckily my father didn't need the G5" he said "haven't you missed me?"

"How could I not" he muttered.

"Okay you don't want to throw me a homecoming party I get it" George said "but let's have a drink, catch up"

George paused, taking a step towards him. His expression could almost be interpreted as threatening.

"You're really starting to hurt my feelings" he said "and you know how I get when my feelings get hurt"

Oh yes. He knew that all too well, it was an experience he didn't want to see again, to avoid this Sebastian put a fake smile on his face. George smiled back.

"Great, I'll see you tonight" he said "it's so weird seeing you, it's almost like I never left"

As soon as George's back was turned Sebastian dropped his smile.

…..

Out of all the people she ever expected to turn up in the small café where Van worked Natalie Archibald was way down the bottom of her list. Danni had been spending her afternoon studying for the SAT's with Van who was actually a pretty good study help, she'd barely left the table for a minute to go buy a coffee when Nat walked in through the door, a backpack swung over her shoulder, books in hand.

"Hey Nat" she greeted steeping out of line and walking towards her "what are you doing here? I mean I know the coffee's great"

"Well since I've taken every SAT prep review course in the five boroughs I thought I may as well pay it forward" she said dumping her stack of books on the table and putting her bag down on Danni's chair, unzipping it and pulling out yet more books. SAT prep books to be exact.

"So you don't need these?" Danni asked her. Nat shook her head.

"I've actually already taken it; my parents don't want me going to USC so I had to make sure my scores were good enough to get in without their help" Nat explained "which thanks to these books they were, so I'm done"

"While we all love hearing about the struggles of the idle rich, Danni's already got a fine tutor right here, I ace every practice test I take so we don't need your hand me downs" Van coldly told Nat.

"This is actually pretty good" Danni spoke up "this is good, thank you"

"Is there a reason you insist on looking so desperate and needy?" Van asked.

"He's been like that since we were kids" Danni told Nat "venomous with provocation"

"It's better than being a charity case" Van chimed in.

"He's rude too" Danni added.

"I can see that yeah" Nat said looking down at Van with a small smile on her face "well I've got to get going, I hope these are useful"

"Oh yeah, very thanks" Danni told her. Nat nodded and headed for the door with her now empty backpack.

"What?" Danni asked noticing Van's glare as she sat back down in her seat "every little bit helps"

…

That night Sebastian found himself in a club with George. He would rather talk to him just about anywhere else.

"Is this really the best place to talk?" Sebastian asked him.

"You of all people know that nothing gets me talking like a good drink" George replied.

"A lot has changed since we used hang out George" Sebastian pointed out.

"I know, I get it" George replied, smiling at the bartender as she placed the two drinks he'd ordered in front of them.

"No you don't" Sebastian told him sliding his own drink away from him "or you wouldn't have sent me any of those so called gifts"

George rolled his eyes, turning on his stool to face Sebastian.

"Get over yourself, they were funny" he said "look how about this, how about for one night we hang out just like old times but tonight I won't get out of control"

"One drink, but only one" Sebastian agreed picking up the one he'd pushed away earlier

….

He didn't quite know what happened but one drink turned into two and two turned into three. Soon he was laughing at stupid old stories George was telling and flirting with two girls. In the midst of all this George's phone rang, George went to answer it but Sebastian who'd gotten caught up in the story of he and George faking accents grabbed it from him and put on a fake southern accent as he greeted whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Look I don't have time for this" they said "do you want 1 G or 2?"

He didn't feel much like laughing after that. He threw the phone down on the padded seat as he jumped up.

"Some dealer you know?" he snapped at George before storming away. He found a relatively quiet part of the club and called Charlotte.

"I'm so stupid, I'm so, so stupid" he told her.

"You don't sound stupid, you sound drunk" Charlotte observed "what have you been into?"

"George" he told her, sinking to the ground and leaning against the nearby wall "good news is he doesn't want anything but a party, bad news is that I partied"

"Could you paint a better picture?" Charlotte asked "does this party require clothes"

"I'm supposed to be at Danni's studying" he realised "I called to tell her I'd be late, but not this late, I just have to call her and say-say-"

"That instead of studying with her you're out with your old pal George" she finished for him.

"No" he told her "I don't want her to know he exists, my mom, Blaine, even you can't stand him, Danni of all people _cannot _know George, can you please help me?"

"Say you need me" Charlotte teased.

"Chuck!" he exclaimed.

"Hearing you call my name is more than enough" she replied "I'll take care of it and pick you up in ten"

….

When Danni got a called from the Palace Hotel while she was studying for the SAT's she assumed it to be Sebastian so she answered it without hesitation.

"Hey I was wondering where you were" Danni said.

"All your life?" Charlotte Bass asked.

"Don't take this the wrong way Sebastian but you sound like this jackass we know" Danni quipped.

"Sebastian has food poisoning" Charlotte told her "he's too sick to come to your little play-date"

Something about that didn't seem right; maybe it was the fact that Charlotte Bass was telling her this.

"Put him on" she demanded.

"That bathroom doesn't get reception" Charlotte replied.

"Just so you know I don't believe you" Danni told her. Charlotte didn't seem surprised.

"And I'd like to say that I'm a little glad about that but my poor sick brother has asked for my assistance in the matter so I'll leave at this, he's not coming, don't try calling, Humphrey always a pleasure" Charlotte said before hanging up.

….

The next morning Danni spotted Charlotte Bass standing out the front of the school on her phone. She had replaced the bright orange coat she'd been wearing the day before with an even brighter red one. When Danni approached her she ended her phone call.

"Beautiful day you're ruining" Charlotte said.

"Do me a favour and leave Sebastian alone" Danni told her.

"It was Sebastian I was doing the favour for" Charlotte replied.

"All I know is that before spring break everything was great, everything was good and now breaks over and he's not quite himself and what has changed in his life? Oh yeah, the Bass family moved in with him" Danni said.

"Danni hi" Sebastian greeted walking over to them and kissing Danni.

"Hey" Danni greeted "how are you feeling?"

He seemed pretty good for someone who apparently had food poisoning the night before.

"Good" Sebastian replied "my migraines gone"

Charlotte shot him a look that told him he'd said the wrong thing.

"Migraine?" Danni asked "I thought it was food poisoning"

"That came after" Sebastian lied, god he hated lying to her, Danni screwed up her face in confusion. She obviously didn't believe them.

"What exactly happened last night?" she asked.

"I already told her" Charlotte cut in; Sebastian looked to her for help.

"I'm asking _you_" Danni said. Charlotte thankfully walked away.

"Well I got food poisoning and Charlie helped me out" he lied.

"What exactly did you eat that gave you this killer food poisoning, migraine?" she asked him, hoping to catch him out.

"What's with the interrogation?" he asked.

"I just want to know where my boyfriend is" she told him, taking his hand in hers.

"I'm right here, with you" he told her.

The bell rang and Danni pulled away.

"I've got to go class" she said "I can't- I can't do this"

…..

He's pretty sure Danni's been avoiding him all day. It reminds him of the way she was acting during the whole pregnancy debacle. Constance and St Judes were really small schools, not the best place to avoid somebody. He's seen her in the hallway a few times but she easily quickened her pace and walked away pretending she hadn't seen him at all. According to Jeremy avoiding a problem was a pretty common thing for Danni.

George called Sebastian a few hours after school had ended for the day. Sebastian really should've guessed that he would, when George latched onto something it was really hard to make him let go.

"Hey" Sebastian greeted "it was so good to see you last night, when did you say you were going back to Belgium?"

"Uh Switzerland actually" he corrected him "and I'm supposed to leave tomorrow, but I'm not going to until I get a chance to make it up to you first"

"Nothing to make up, I had fun" he lied.

"No you didn't" George shot back "I mean until after you left I don't think I really realised what you were saying, I didn't get it, you've really changed"

"Yeah, yeah I have" Sebastian agreed, it was nice to have someone who actually knew him before boarding school to notice this.

"I don't mean to sound corny but it's a real inspiration to me" George told him.

"Really?" Sebastian asked.

"Look I've always thought that I am who I'm going to be for the rest of my life" George explained "even those times when I don't like myself, well you can't decide to be somebody else"

"Yes you can" Sebastian told him.

"Listen let's have dinner, I want to hear about your life" George said "and if you can change maybe there's hope for me too"

"No" he replied "I have to study I have SAT's in the morning"

"It'll just be an hour I promise, we can time it" George said "the hardest drug on the table will be Perrier"

"An hour" Sebastian eventually agreed.

….

Dinner with George was actually going pretty well so far. A hell of a lot better than Sebastian ever expected. George had declined the offer of alcohol from the waitress and he seemed to be keeping to his promise of one hour. Maybe George really did want to change for the better.

"So" he said leaning back in his chair "tell me about Danni"

What could he say about Danni? He could tell George about how he was head over heels with her, how she was smart, funny, nice and beautiful, how he thought that she was his perfect girl, how that sometimes when she looked at him the whole world seemed to melt away until it was just the two of them.

"She's special" he finally decided upon "she's really special"

"That's incredible" George replied "look I may not be your most trusted friend right now but I think I know the old you pretty well"

"Better than anyone actually" Sebastian pointed out.

"And I know it would take a lot to bring that person back" George added.

"I'm actually going to go call her" Sebastian announced "she's a little freaked out about tomorrow; I'm going to go wish her luck, I'll be right back"

…..

He didn't remember much else about that night, the next thing he knew he was waking up in a hotel room feeling horrible, sunlight drifting in through the window.

"Oh you don't look so good" George told him leaving the bathroom "you okay?"

"No I'm not okay" he told him "how did we get here, what are we doing here?"

George didn't reply and all of a sudden it dawned on him, he was supposed to be taking the SAT's right now.

"I'm supposed to be at Hunter College" he said sliding off of the bed and running a hand through his hair.

"If memory serves, and it usually does, they don't let you in if you're late" George pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wait I was drinking soda" Sebastian remembered, how did this happen?

"Yeah" George replied "until you switched to Patron, look don't worry I call Lily and covered your ass, so you're welcome"

"You knew I had the SAT's this morning" Sebastian pointed out angrily slipping on his shoes.

"Which is why I bought you here instead of letting you go home with one of the many girls you were hanging around with" George replied and Sebastian instantly felt worse "I guess you haven't changed as much as I thought"

As George headed back into the bathroom Sebastian pulled out his phone and called Charlotte.

"I'm in trouble" he told her "I think I can still make it but please go to Hunter and keep the doors open until I get there"

…..

Danni was actually starting to get worried. She couldn't see Sebastian anywhere and he wasn't answering any of her calls. He'd called the night before to wish her luck and during the conversation confirmed that yes he'd definitely be there at Hunter College for the SAT's the next day but she hadn't heard or seen from him since. She was tempted to call Erica or Lily and ask them if they've seen him but that would probably be taking it a little too far, he was probably just running late.

"Danielle, where's Sebastian?" Blaine asked stepping out of the registration line he was standing in to talk to her

"I don't know" she admitted "but I bet Chuck does.

"Ugh" Blaine commented, screwing up his face in disgust "well I'll try to save a seat for him"

"And I'll keep calling" she replied holding her phone up to her ear again, she'd gotten his voicemail again "hey Sebastian, it's me, a very worried me, concerned about a very missing you"

The short boy with red curly hair she'd just walked past spoke to the man sitting behind one of the registration tables.

"Hi, I'm Sebastian Van Der Woodsen"

This made Danni stop in her tracks. What in the world was going on?

….

Danni ended up walking out of Hunter College with Blaine, he'd been strangely civil to her lately and she may even say he was being nice if she was willing to stretch it. She supposed this was merely due to their shared concern about Sebastian.

"How did you do?" he asked

"Not my finest hour" she admitted "I finished but I kind of have a lot on my mind"

"I'll keep calling" he assured her putting his phone to his ear after dialling Sebastian's number.

….

Danni headed to Charlotte's suite at the Palace Hotel next and just as she predicted Sebastian was there, in fact he opened the door for her. He looked okay, a little shaken up but okay.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing" he told her "I'm fine"

"No, no you're not" she argued, she was really getting tired of all of this "where were you?"

"He was with me" Charlotte announced walking into Danni's line of sight.

"What she means is that we were both at home, my stomach started acting up" he told her.

"Oh, a food poisoning relapse?" she asked sarcastically "look if you didn't study enough and got freaked out I-"

"I told you I was sick" he said cutting her off.

"You paid somebody else to take the SAT for you and that's the best you can do?" Danni asked.

"What are you talking about?" he asked

"I'm talking about the redhead claiming to be Sebastian Van Der Woodsen" she told him "I'm pretty sure that wasn't you"

"Chuck" he said turning to face Charlotte "what happened? I asked you to keep the doors open; when I got there they were closed"

"They don't keep the doors open" Charlotte explained "I was thinking on my feet, I was trying to help"

"I'm not mad, I'm just worried, I'm so worried about you" Danni told him when he turned back around "please help me understand what is going on with you"

There was a long uncomfortable silence where she waited for him to say something, anything so that things would somehow go back to normal again.

"Can we talk tomorrow?" he asked "I'll call you, I'm sorry"

"I'm sorry too" she told him before quickly leaving the hotel room, she needed air, she needed to sort her head out.

…..

George answered the door rather quickly after Sebastian knocked on it. Thankfully he seemed to be in the middle of packing.

"I don't want you to ever contact me again" Sebastian told him. The smile George had been wearing when he answered the door quickly dropped off his face.

"Just because of a few nights of harmless fun?" he asked.

"It wasn't fun waking up and not knowing where I was" Sebastian replied coldly stepping into the room "it wasn't fun missing the SAT's and it definitely wasn't fun lying to Danni"

"And this is all my fault because?" George asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's my fault" Sebastian told him "because I make huge mistakes when I'm with you"

"So you want to distance yourself from your mistakes by staying away from me?" George asked "you were there too Sebastian, it was just as much you if not more"

"This is not about last year!" Sebastian snapped at him "it's about last night"

"Oh, like you were some innocent bystander who walked in on –"

"I'm not talking about it George okay!" Sebastian exclaimed "and neither are you, if I go down you go down with me, in the meantime stay out of my life"

"I don't need anybody in my life who doesn't want to be there" George replied.

"So we're agreed" Sebastian added.

….

After her conversation with Sebastian Danni had found her way to the Central Park Lake, it was the sort of place for her at the time, she needed to just sit and think things over. She was sitting on a bench alone when a large golden furred dog ran towards her. She stood up as it approached stopping it before it kept running. She'd always loved dogs and this one seemed particularly friendly.

"Hey buddy" she greeted patting it gently

"Georgie, bad boy" a boy about Danni's own age said to the dog once he caught up to it. He leaned forward clipping the lead back onto the collar. The boy was only a little bit taller than Danni herself with dark brown hair and brown eyes to match.

"I'm sorry he disturbed you" he told her.

"No it's fine" she assured him "I love dogs"

"Really?" he asked "do you have any?"

"No, we used to have a cat but you know brother, allergies, so know the cat, Iggy, lives in Florida with my grandma, doesn't write, never calls" she told him. He laughed at her joke; it was good to see someone appreciate her humour.

"I'm sorry to hear that" he told her.

"It's just a cat" she said.

"I'm Sean by the way" he introduced.

"Oh, I'm Danielle" she replied "nice to meet you Sean"


	16. Chapter 16: All about my brother

**Chapter Sixteen: **All about my brother

In the past two weeks Danni had been spending time with Sean. It was nice to have someone to talk to other then Van. Things were still a little rocky with Sebastian and Jeremy was spending most of his time with his new girlfriend so that just left Van and Sean.

Sean actually had time for her. He let her ramble on about whatever was bothering her.

"Hey Sean" he greeted the boy when he walked into the café where Van was working, Sean looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at her "sorry for talking your ear off last night"

"She tends to ramble as you'll get to know" Van chimed in.

"Yeah" Danni sheepishly agreed.

"Well I'm a good listener" Sean assured her "as she'll get to know, are there any new developments?"

"An no" she admitted "still more of the same Jeremy and her girlfriend are still inseparable and he's even more insufferable"

"Give him a break" Van told her "Ashley's his first love"

"It's infatuation" she corrected him "not love"

"Yeah but at the age there isn't really a difference" Sean said, Van nodding in agreement.

"And how long did it take you Danni?" he asked.

"Uh, that's a little different Van" she pointed out.

"One glance at a ninth grade birthday party?" Van reminded her.

"Yes" Danni admitted "but two years to obsess over it"

"So things are better with-" Sean asked, pausing to remember the name "Sebastian?"

"Sebastian, yeah, good memory, things are finally back to normal" she told him. After everything that happened with the SAT's she was very thankful that there wasn't any more drama with her relationship.

"That's good" Sean commented "I mean well, it's tough making friends in a new city, I'd really like to meet him"

Of course, Danni couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of it first.

"Yes! Sebastian would love you, he loves everything" Danni said "not that he'd only like you because he doesn't discriminate, uh, see what he meant about the rambling thing?"

Van laughed at her.

"How about tonight?" Danni asked Sean.

"Tonight would be perfect" he replied.

...

She had to practically run into school to have enough time to meet with Sebastian before first period. She dodged a couple of younger girls as she rounded the corner and headed into the hall.

"Hey you're here" Sebastian greeted with a smile, she reached him and he kissed her wrapping an arm around her back "and you're late"

"I know" she told him as they separated "I came bearing apologies and an invitation, what are you up to tonight?"

"I know what I'm not up to, having fun" he replied, he slipped his hand into hers as they begun to walk through the hallway "the SAT tutor was over for four hours last night"

She made a sympathetic sound and griped his hand tighter.

"So this tutor, is she-is she cute?" Danni asked.

"If hair in the ears is your things" he replied with a laugh, she laughed back "I hate the because I'm not going to use the score Charlie bought for me, I have to study every night, I can't even be distracted by-"

She cut him off, letting go of his hand to stand in front of him. She leaned forward and kissed him.

"By that" he finished when she pulled away. He was smiling; it was good to see him smile.

"I see your point" she told him as they moved to stand near the window "so, um, dinner tonight with Sean instead?"

"Oh, Sean again?" he asked "what is he your new boyfriend or something?"

It was said jokingly, or at least she hoped it was meant to be a joke.

"Yeah" she teased "just kidding, but he's new in town and he does want to meet you"

"Well since Bart and Charlotte are out of town I already agreed to a quite family dinner in our old suite, I'm sorry, what about tomorrow?" he asked. Danni didn't reply she was distracted by something outside the window, her brother and Ashley.

"No, no my brother and tongue" she said "two things that don't go together well"

"Lighten up" Sebastian told her "you've been down on her since the beginning, give her a chance and then judge, maybe she'll surprise you, like I did"

"Why are you always so right?" she asked him.

"It's easy when you're always so wrong" he teased "hey, you have first period free, why don't you go get to know her?"

"Alright" she agreed reluctantly. He leaned forward and kissed her.

"Goodbye" he told her before she turned to leave.

She found Ashley leaving the school, her plan was to go talk to her, get to know her like Sebastian had suggested but she stopped on the stairs when she saw Ashley was standing with someone else, another girl, a Constance girl judging from the skirt, she couldn't see her face or much her at all really Ashley was blocking her view. Ashley leant forward and kissed the girl and Danni's heart sunk, so much for Ashley being one of the good ones. Here she was standing outside the school cheating on Jeremy. Ashley pulled away and turned back around to head in the opposite direction. Danni quickly moved up the stairs, out of sight when she was confident Ashley had left she moved back down the stairs, the other girl had already left.

….

"Hey Ashley?" she called out to the other girl when she spotted her at lunch "have you got a minute?"

"Yeah" Ashley replied walking towards her with a smile "but only a minute, I've got to meet Jeremy for a lunch date"

"There's uh, honestly no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it" Danni explained, she was nervous and really hoped she didn't start rambling again "I saw you this morning"

"Saw me what?" she asked, her smile gone, voice a little defensive.

"I saw you uh, I saw you kissing that girl" she explained.

"You got the wrong person" Ashley shot back; she was smiling again but it much more cold and harsh then her earlier smile.

"I don't think I do" Danni replied.

"Are you calling me gay?" Ashley asked.

"That's not what I'm saying" she tried to explain.

"You want to know how gay I am?" Ashley hissed "you want to know how much of a lesbian I am after I have sex with your brother tonight"

Danni pushed her angrily, Ashley not one to go without a fight pushed back. Ashley grabbed a hold of Danni's coat, hand balled into a fist and Danni swore she was just about to be punched in the face.

"Hey!" Jeremy called rushing over "what is going on?"

'Where had he come from?' Danni thought as Ashley let go of Danni's coat.

"Jeremy, I need to talk to you in private" Danni told her brother.

"Well anything you have to say to me you can you in front of my girlfriend" Jeremy told her.

"Alright, alright fine" she said, tugging on her coat so it sat straight again "your girlfriends not being honest with you"

"I wasn't going to tell you yet" Ashley quickly jumped in "but I wanted to invite you to the country house this weekend" Jeremy smiled warmly and Danni sort of wished Ashley had punched her so she could've punched her back "your sister thought we were moving too fast and got upset"

"Danni!" Jeremy exclaimed turning to her "can't you just let me be happy for once?"

"I want you to be happy just no with a girl that-"

"Yeah I understand that you're threatened by her, because clearly she's everything you want to be, good looking, worldly, a legacy at Dartmouth, but even you should know that jealously clashes with LL Bean pants" Jeremy coldly told her.

He turned to leave, Ashley following behind leaving Danni to wonder what the hell happened to her once sweet, family first, baby brother.

….

"So what do you say to a boys night out tonight?" Blaine asked over lunch that day.

"I can't" Sebastian told him "I have dinner with the family"

"Let me remind you off a little promise you made when I was about to leave for France?" Blaine pointed out.

"I'm really sorry I've been distant, but things will be better soon I promise" he told him.

"Obviously not starting today" Blaine commented, looking at Danni who was walking towards them.

"Hey" she greeted Sebastian sitting on the step in front of him.

"What's wrong?" he asked her "you look stressed, even for you"

"Still worried about Jeremy" she explained.

"You mean because he's self-obsessed, self-serving, self-centred-" Blaine started but Danni cut him off. She really didn't need to hear anymore of Blaine Waldorf's criticisms.

"No, I wish it was just about him and himself but it's more about who he's with, I can't get through to him, I tried, but he just completely blew me off and she dissed my pants" she told them.

"Maybe I underestimated him" Blaine commented, a small smile gracing his face.

"He's just going through a phase, we all went through it, and apparently some of us are still going through it" Sebastian said, the last part directed at Blaine.

"Look all that matters to someone like Jeremy right now are the four G's" Blaine explained "the guys, girls and Gossip Girl"

"It's true" Sebastian added "don't feel bad, unless it's coming from one of them, he's not going to hear it"

…

"Hello?" Sebastian greeted when his cell phone rang not long after he arrived back at the school after lunch with Blaine.

"Mr Van Der Woodsen it's Luke from the concierge's desk" the person on the other line said "you asked the we call first before anything upstairs"

"Why?" he asked "is there something for me?"

"Yes" Luke replied "a package from a Mr George Sparks"

"Hello?" Luke asked when he didn't reply for a few moments "did I lose you?"

"Oh, no sorry" Sebastian told him "just keep it there, I'll pick it up after school and don't let it out of your sight"

When he hung he noticed that Danni had joined him. She didn't look any happier then she had before.

"What was that about?" she asked him.

"Nothing" he told her "it's just this-it's nothing, I've got to go, bye"

"Bye!" she called after him, Sebastian passed Blaine as he left.

"Danni Humphrey, just the person I hate to admit I was looking for" he said stepping in front of Danni, he kept stepping forward, forcing her to take a few steps forward "your dirty"

"Huh?" she asked.

"Cheating, drugs, alcohol, it's all fair game" he told her "but outing your brothers girlfriend to Gossip Girl is dark, how did squeaky clean Humphrey come up with such a thing?"

"I didn't come up with it" she told him

"Oh my god" Blaine said as realisation dawned upon him "you know something, tell me"

"I might have seen Ashley kissing another girl" Danni told him.

"So it is true" Blaine replied "who was she kissing?"

"I couldn't see" Danni admitted "but what does it even matter"

"Right now Gossip Girl's credibility is shot but if I can prove that her duplicity is more than just a rumour, they'll break up, that's what you want isn't it?" Blaine asked.

Jeremy might hate her for it but yes she really did want them to break up.

"Yeah, I guess I do" Danni told her. It was for the best but she still felt like she was handing her brother over to the enemy.

"Ashley's just using your brother as a cover" Blaine quickly replied "it's your sisterly duty to stop this"

"And you're in this to help Jeremy?" Danni asked. No way would Blaine want to help Jeremy, they'd been at odds for months now.

"Motive is irrelevant" Blaine said "as long as our endgame is the same"

"No Blaine this is not a game to me" she told him "I don't want him to get hurt"

"Well you should've thought that through before you sent in that Gossip Girl tip" Blaine pointed out; great Blaine Waldorf of all people was pointing out her bad deed. She'd just wanted to help her brother.

"You're on your own" she said walking away from him "I'm done"

"Suit yourself" he said, he said it mostly to himself, she barely even heard him.

…

Sebastian picked up the envelope from the front desk and quickly headed up to his room. He just wanted the whole thing over and done with and carrying around anything from George Sparks just made him feel worse about everything. There was a thumb drive inside the envelope along with a note, 'S, Memories can fade, a video is forever, G', there was another note tied onto the thumb drive, 'watch me' it read. He picked up his laptop from the nearby desk dropping the note on it but keeping a hold of the thumb drive. He turned the computer on and stuck in the thumb drive.

"If you put the camera over there he'll never know" George said on the video when Sebastian pressed play.

"Are you sure he's going to be down for this?" a female voice asked

"It's Sebastian, he's down for anything" George replied.

"Hey" Sebastian heard his own voice on the video as he joined the other two.

"How are the new Mr and Mrs Sheppard?" George asked him.

"I just did something so stupid" Sebastian told him. He remembered this, it was the night he'd slept with Nat. The very same night everything spiralled out of control. Oh god, he was going to be sick.

…..

He was about to leave their suite when his mother walked in. She didn't look very happy but at that moment neither was he and he really didn't have the time to ask her what was going on with her.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked when she saw him.

"I can't talk right now mom, I'll explain later" he replied.

"If you invite an old friend to our quiet family dinner I expect you to stay around" Lily said. What was she talking about? Sebastian hadn't invited anyone. The door opened and closed again as George joined them.

"You know how I always loved when George came around" Lily lied. Nobody liked George, especially not Lily. This was her polite way of saying that she didn't want him back at all.

"I ran into Lily in the lobby" George said with a large smile "you forgot to tell her I was coming"

…

"Is this true?" Danni asked walking into Jeremy's room holding up her cell phone which was open to a Gossip Girl blast claiming that Ashley had been heard bragging about having sex with Jeremy.

"It's private" he snapped at her.

"It's on the internet" she pointed out, the whole school read this stuff, nothing about this was private.

"Well it's none of your business" he shot back "and since when did you start reading Gossip Girl blasts?"

"Since you became the subject of them, you're fifteen years old and I'm your big sister, it _is_ my business" she replied.

"It's not true" he replied, he seemed to have softened up slightly at the big sister comment "but you can't tell anyone, everyone has to believe it"

"Are you saying that you actually want your friends to think you're sleeping with a girl who's gay?" she asked. It didn't make sense to her at all.

"Do you believe everything that you read on Gossip Girl?" he snapped, the softness that he'd shown before was gone again. It hurt; she wanted her brother back, the one who she talked to about everything, the one who was almost always soft and kind towards her.

"I didn't read it" she told him hesitantly "I saw it"

"So you were the one who sent the tip" it wasn't a question. There was no denying it now.

"I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen to me" she tried to explain "I needed to get your attention somehow"

"Well I knew about her the whole time" he replied, voice suddenly very cold.

"So-so you let her use you?" Danni asked.

"Maybe I was using her!" he snapped back "did you even think about that?"

"I don't know which is worse" Danni admitted.

"For once in your life could you stop judging everyone?" he exclaimed angrily.

"I'm not, I'm-"

"You think that you're so different and so good?" he asked "well guess what Danni? The minute you start sending in tips to Gossip Girl you're in the game with the rest of us, get out of my room" he shoved her towards the door, grabbing her by the shoulder and pushing.

…..

"So George, what brings you back to New York?" Lily asked over dinner.

"I just had some time to kill" George replied.

"He went to boarding school in Switzerland" Sebastian added hoping that conversation could stay on George and no secrets would slip out.

"Oh, your parents must be glad you're back" Lily commented.

"No, my parents have moved to the country full time" George told them "I'm just in the city to catch up with some old friends" he turned his gaze towards Sebastian, smiling at him; Sebastian shot him a half-hearted smile in return.

"What about you?" George asked turning back to Lily "you and your engagement seem to be the talk of the city"

"Bart and I are very happy" Lily replied.

"You seem it" George replied "you all do, there must be love in the air in the city, you're engaged, Sebastian's found himself a new girl, Erica's got herself a girlfriend"

Erica who'd been occupying herself with playing with the table cloth, sat up straighter and started paying attention upon hearing Georgia's words.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right" Lily said.

"What?" George asked "you haven't met Sebastian's new girl?"

"Girlfriend?" Lily asked.

"Oh" George said "you mean Erica, you didn't know she was dating someone? I didn't think it was a secret, I mean I saw them kissing in front of Constance this morning for all the world to see"

Erica dropped her head, avoiding anyone's gaze.

"Well don't look so embarrassed E, she was a hot piece, well done" George added.

"George please" Sebastian cut in "stop, that's not funny okay"

George's smile quickly dropped and his expression turned into one of surprise.

"Oh, I'm-I'm, you didn't know that Erica was dating a girl" George said.

"That doesn't make any sense because that would mean…." Lily said trailing off at the end "and she's not, she's just not" there was a long awkward pause before Lily added "are you?"

Erica opened and closed her mouth like she was going to say something but couldn't decide what.

"Oh god" Lily finally said running her hands over her face.

Erica jumped up from her chair, darting out of the room.

"Great mom, great" Sebastian told her before turning to Georgia "how dare you"

He slid out of his chair and followed his sister out of the room.

…..

Sebastian found Erica in her room, phone to her ear, talking quietly into it.

"Hey it's me" he said as he stepped into the room.

"Bye" she told the person on the other end of the line before hanging up the phone.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked her.

"Charlie" she replied. That wasn't what Sebastian expected but then again Charlotte and Erica had become rather close lately.

"Wait you called Chuck?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied "I've been talking to her a lot lately, she's got her faults but she's never judged me"

"I'm your brother, we're us" he told her sitting beside her on the bed "you can tell me anything"

"I wanted to" she admitted "but it's not the type of thing you blurt out on the way to school, I was waiting for the right time"

"Dinner with George definitely wasn't" Sebastian replied.

"No" Erica said quietly.

"I'm sorry about him" Sebastian told her rubbing her back lightly "about me, I came back for you and I abandoned you all over again"

"This isn't like before" Erica told her "I'm fine, really"

"Well I'm here now" he assured her.

"When I was at Ostroff I met this girl" Erica started to explain "we were going through a lot of the same stuff and now that girl is dating Jeremy"

"Wait" he said in realisation "you're the mystery girl that Ashley was spotted kissing? I know this isn't how you wanted this to happen"

"The most important thing is that it's happening" Erica said.

"I'm so proud of you" Sebastian replied pulling her into a tight hug.

"I love you" he told her "no matter what you do, who you like or whose girlfriend kisses you, the people that care about you will always stand by your side, okay?"

"Yeah" Erica said "I think I'm going to go drop by Ashley's party, there's one more person I have to talk to"

…

Sebastian left the suite not long after Erica had if the family dinner plan was over and done with then he really needed to spend time with Danni he felt like they hadn't spent any time together in so long. He'd been so busy lately. He found Danni at Van's café.

"Thank god you're here" he told her as he sat down beside her and kissed her "I'm so glad to see you"

"Hey" she greeted "I'm happy to see you too, you can meet Sean"

"Oh I'd love to" he assured her "but now's really not a good time"

"Well he's here so…" Danni trailed off and Sebastian turned around to find himself staring at George Sparks. He didn't think he could feel worse after everything else George had done but now somehow after learning that he'd wormed his way into Danni's life he really did.

"Sean, Sebastian, Sebastian, Sean" Danni introduced although introductions really weren't needed.

"Hi" George said "I'm Sean, it's so nice to finally meet you"'

Sebastian turned to Danni who looked very happy the two were finally meeting.

"Danni, can I please talk to you in private?" he asked her.

"No, no wait" George cut in "don't go, Van was just about to show me one of his movies, I'm a filmmaker too of sorts actually I bought one of my films, I was hoping I could get your opinion" the last part was directed towards Van, as he waved the thumb drive that he'd pulled out of his pocket in his direction "maybe you'd like to see it too, tell me what you think?" he asked turning to Sebastian and Danni.

"I'll go get my laptop" Van said turning to leave.

"Danni, could you please get me a coffee?" he asked her, he needed to talk to George alone, nobody could see this video especially not Danni.

"Oh, yeah" she said sliding out of her seat leaving George and Sebastian alone.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed at George grabbing his arm once Danni was out of ear shot "put that away"

"I was just having a little fun, like old times" George replied pulling his arm away "you and me pretending to be different people"

"This is not a game" he snapped at him "I don't know how you even filmed that but I'm not playing with you this time"

"It's just a friendly game" George said.

"But we're not friends" Sebastian pointed out.

"I think we are" George shot back "because you see with me as your enemy Danni sees this and if the heavy petting doesn't send her running what happens next definitely will"

At this point Danni and Van arrived back at the table, Van with his laptop, Danni with the coffee.

"What did we miss?" Danni asked placing the coffee in front of Sebastian.

"Nothing" he assured her "it's like Sean and I have known each other for years"

George smiled widely, nodding in agreement.

"We don't need the laptop" Sebastian told Van "thanks"

Both Van and Danni looked very confused, they obviously had no idea what was going on and Sebastian really wanted it to stay that way.

"I got a little shy about showing it" George lied "maybe next time?"

"Okay" Van replied still looking as confused as hell.

…..

"So he's great right?" Danni asked as she and Sebastian stood outside the café together, George and Van were still inside gathering their things "what did you think?"

"Honestly, there something I don't really like about him" he told her.

"Okay but you had your doubts about Van in the beginning" she pointed out "and now you guys are sort of friends"

"This is different" he told her, he could see how hard she was trying to make this friendship work and he hated, absolutely hated that George was playing her like this. He hated that George had targeted the two most innocent people in all this, Erica and Danni. But most of all he hated himself for letting this all happen in the first place.

"I don't understand why you're-you're" Danni started

"Why I'm what?" he asked her.

"Jealous" she finally said "there's no reason to be, he actually wanted us to patch things up"

"Wait?" he asked in surprise "you told him about our problems"

"Yes" she admitted "because he wanted to listen to him, he had good advice too"

"Look at me" he told her, holding her face in his hands "I love you, you just have to take my word for it, do not trust him"

Danni pulled away sharply taking a step away from him.

"You just me him!" she exclaimed "I don't understand - you know you've been hanging out with Charlie and you've been partying and avoiding me and lying and you're trying to tell me who I can and can't trust? I don't understand that all"

Van and George left the café together at that point, smiling and happy and Sebastian wished he could wipe that smile right off George's face.

"We all live in Brooklyn" Danni said "so I don't know if you need to catch a cab I think you should do that here"

"Danni" he tried "don't, I want to talk"

"Then talk" Danni told him. Sebastian looked towards George and knew if he even tried to explain things to Danni then that video would be out there as soon as George could get to a computer.

"I'm going to go!" Van called out to them.

"Wait a second!" Danni replied.

"I forgot something inside, I'll catch up with you guys" George said heading back into the café. Danni turned away and begun walking away with Van.

"Well I had fun" George said leaving the café once he saw Van and Danni walk away "how about you?"

"What do you want from me?" he asked him.

"I want things to go back to the way they were, before that night, before things got so screwed up" George replied "we were such good friends and now we can be again"

"Why would I want to be friends with someone who blackmails me, who outs my little sister at the dinner table?" Sebastian snapped at him.

"Erica was a honest mistake" George said, his smile gone "I would never hurt her"

"No, I don't believe you" Sebastian told you "I don't believe you about Erica, about anything"

"Maybe you're right" George said smiling again "maybe I did it on purpose, because I can, because I know things, about you, about your family, about your girlfriend and I know them before you do"

…

Danni placed the 'Y' letter onto the scrabble board finishing the word 'angry'.

"Angry?" her dad asked reading the words she'd formed "change, trust, boy, something you want to talk about?"

"Who would've thought scrabble could be so therapeutic" Danni replied "that last one was a triple word score"

She moved forward to right her score down on the notepad in front of her and as she leaned back in her chair the front door opened and Jeremy walked into the room. He didn't look happy but not angry either like the last time Danni had seen him, he just looked rather sad and tiered. Nobody said anything and Jeremy kept walking as if he was going to head into his room. He paused after only a few steps.

"Dad?" he asked "do you think it would be okay if I joined you"

"You know there's always room for you here" Rufus told him and Jeremy sat down beside him.

"And dad's totally losing so he could use your help" Danni told him. Jeremy didn't seem to care about the scrabble game though; he let out a shaky breath.

"Dad I'm sorry" he told him. Rufus acted quickly, pulling him into a hug.

….

"Sebastian?" Blaine asked upon seeing the blonde boy walked into the Waldorf loft "what are you doing here? It's late" he took in the sight of his best friend who looked like he was seconds away from crying "what happened, what's wrong?"

"I can't tell you" he replied.

"Of course you can" Blaine assured him.

"No, no Blaine this is the one thing I can't tell you" Sebastian said, sniffling a little "I can't tell anyone"

"I'm not anyone" Blaine shot back "I'm me, you can tell me anything"

"No I can't" he told him shaking his head and moving to sit on the staircase behind him "because that would make you a part of it and you can't be a part of this"

"What are you talking about?" Blaine asked sitting beside him "hey you're my family, there's nothing you could ever say that could make me let go, what is it?"

"I-I killed someone"


	17. Chapter 17: On The Verge

**Chapter Seventeen: **On the verge

Danni didn't get much sleep that night. She spent most of it tossing and turning and trying to figure out what the hell was going on with Sebastian. There was a point in the early hours of the morning where she considered ending the relationship but quickly dropped the idea when she remembered how happy she was when she was with him, how much she loved him. She shouldn't just give up after one fight. She gave up on trying to get some sleep when she heard her father playing his guitar. She rolled out of bed threw on some clothes and left her room.

"Hey do you think 'track me down' should come before or after 'every time'?" Rufus asked her. He had a pencil tucked behind his ear, a notepad sitting on the table in front of him and was holding on tightly to his guitar.

"Oh, is the Rolling Stone's thing tonight?" she asked.

"I guess I really am in one of the top ten forgotten bands of the nineties" Rufus said.

"That's true, I forgot" Danni pointed out.

"But a lot of people remembered, there was a reason that issues was one of the highest selling of the year" he said.

"And I'm proud, Dad, I really am. You got your follow-up article and a concert, surely followed by an overpriced CD sold at corporate coffeehouses for Gen X's without taste buds or taste" she replied.

"Hey it's going to be cool" he argued "I mean they're even filming it for VH1"

"VH1 classics" she reminded him "the 'classics' is kind of important"

"I'm classic!" Rufus said, she didn't say anything in reply "uh-oh, no retort, signs of a sleepless night, disinterest in making your father feel old and irrelevant, that can only mean one thing, relationship trouble"

"Yeah Sebastian and I had a fight last night" she admitted "this new kind we keep having where he says something, and I know it's not the whole truth"

"Well, have you asked him what's really on his mind?" Rufus asked. She nodded.

"Only about a million times"

"Yeah, but did you really mean it?" he asked "most times, when people don't offer the truth, it's because they're afraid of what someone might think. And I don't know if you know this, but you can be a pretty judgmental person"

"So, you're saying I should learn to be someone else around him so he can be himself around me?" she asked, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Couldn't have said it better myself" Rufus told her.

"Thank you dad" she replied "I'm going to go find him now"

"See you tonight" he called out to her as she left "both of you"

…

"Excuse me, Mr Bass, Miss Van Der Woodsen?" Danni asked upon spotting the couple when she walked into the hotel suite. They were talking to a man that Danni assumed was a wedding planner who they turned away from when she spoke.

"Not for much longer, thank you very much" Lily replied referring to her last name. In all honesty Danni had forgotten all about the upcoming wedding, in her defence Sebastian was the only one who talked to her about the wedding and they hadn't done a lot of talking lately. She smiled at Lily in a way that she hoped told her that she was happy for her.

"Morning Danielle" Bart said to her, nodding slightly.

"Good morning" she replied politely "have either of you seen Sebastian? He's not upstairs"

"Uh, tick tock, tick tock" the planner cut in.

"No, sorry Danni" Lily told her before she and Bart turned back to the planner. The door to Sebastian's nearby bedroom was open so she took a few steps towards it to take a closer look.

"His bed hasn't been slept in" she commented to herself.

Well, I knew housekeeping was hiring, but I had no idea their standards were so low" Charlotte Bass said mockingly as she walked into the room.

"I hate to ask you this" Danni said with sigh turning around to face the other girl "but have you seen Sebastian?"

"Oh I've seen lots of Sebastian" Charlotte coolly replied, she didn't say anything else to Danni as he phone rang at this point and she picked it up.

"Are you drunk dialling me again?" she asked the person on the other end of the line as she begun to move towards the door "no Sebastian didn't come home last night; I thought he was with you"

Upon hearing Sebastian's name Danni started paying attention and begun following Charlotte towards the door. Charlotte merely glared at her before closing the door in her face.

….

Sean is the last person she expects to see walk past the gates of the Palace Hotel. He pauses when she calls out to him before turning around to face her, slipping off his sunglasses as he turns. He's holding a tray of coffee's in one hand, shoving his sunglasses away in his pocket with the other.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"An old friend from Portland is staying here" he told her "what about you?"

"Oh, I was here looking for Sebastian" she replied "but he apparently didn't come home last night, so I'm just-I don't know, I'm trying to figure out what to think, he's been, well, let's just say he's not been himself lately. So I... I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what to do exactly"

"Why don't you try giving him a call again?" Sean suggested "and when he sees that it's you calling he'll pick up immediately"

She didn't even have to call him as at that moment her phone begun to ring, she looked down at the caller ID 'Sebastian' flashing across the screen. She answered without hesitation.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you" she said into the phone.

"Hey, is this Danni?" an unfamiliar male voice asked on the other end of the line.

"Yes, who's this?" she asked.

"My name's Drew" he told her "I'm the bartender at 1OAK, some guy left this phone here last night, it's been ringing off the hook all morning, you were the first number on the speed dial"

"Some guy?" she asked him "what guy?"

"Tall, blonde, left here around two am with three girls" Drew said, he said something else after this but Danni had stopped listening and hung up her phone.

Not since the pregnancy test scandal had she thought he could be cheating on her. They'd come so far since then but lately it seemed like they'd only been going backwards. It was beginning to look like a real possibility.

"Hey, what is it?" Sean asked.

"Nothing" she told him "it's nothing"

…

Sebastian felt horrible. After he'd said 'I killed someone' to Blaine the other boy had told him to wait there while he went to his room. Sebastian left the penthouse, knowing that if he stayed he'd have to face his past. He headed for a bar and then another, drinking up a storm. Blaine had found him the next day, he still hadn't gone home, and dragged him back to the Waldorf penthouse. He curled up in the corner of the elevator, Blaine looking at him with a worried expression the whole way up. When they arrived at the Waldorf penthouse, Blaine stepped out; seconds later he was back with Nat and Chuck. Nat grabbed one side of Sebastian and Blaine the other, the two heaved him up and out of the elevator and up towards the stairs Charlotte following close behind.

…

"Come on Sebastian" Blaine was saying trying to pull his best friend up from the bed "we need to get him in the shower"

"I want to sleep" Sebastian mumbled in the comforter.

"No, come on, come on" Blaine said trying to lift him up again. This time he was successful and pulled him into a sitting position.

"Why won't you let me sleep?" Sebastian asked.

"We have to keep him talking and awake" Blaine was saying "come on, come on, let's go, let's go, Dorota, will you please get him a fresh change of clothes and a bathrobe?"

"Of course Mister Blaine" Dorota said.

They'd all had experience with Sebastian in this way, more than of them would ever admit but Blaine was definitely better at dealing with it then any of them. As Sebastian's best friend he'd had to deal with it the most. It was at times like this that it was obvious how good of a friend Blaine could be.

Charlotte walked into the room carrying two yellow plastic bags, one in each hand. She dumped them onto Blaine's bed.

"So we have every hangover cure known to man, plus bagels. They should help soak up the alcohol and whatever else he took" she said.

"Thank you, I'll take it from here" Blaine told her, pulling Sebastian towards the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

…

In a last ditch effort to find Sebastian Danni tried the hotel again. Maybe things had changed since she'd last been there. As she walked towards the door she imagined Sebastian standing on the other side ready to explain everything. After she knocked the door opened to reveal a blonde Van Der Woodsen, just not the one she was looking for.

"Oh, I see I'm interrupting" Danni said noticing the man sitting on the nearby sofa "I'll just…"

"No" Lily told her "I have to say I've never been happier to see you Danni"

"Oh" Danni said, surprised by the comment "well, I've been waiting downstairs for Sebastian, I figured he has to come home sometime soon, have you heard from him?"

"Have you tried calling him?" Lily asked.

"I'm pretty sure he lost his phone" Danni told her remembering the earlier phone call from Drew the bartender.

"Well, Charlotte said she was going over to Blaine's to pick him up right after you left earlier, maybe try there?" Lily suggested. Finally, some real answers.

"Ah, Charlotte, of course" Danni said "thank you so much"

…

Blaine was walking past the elevator when Danni stepped out. He barely spared her a glance, slowing down slightly as he spotted her before speeding up again. Dorota was following him a stack of blue towels in her arms.

"Dorota, can you bring the towels upstairs?" he asked her.

"What's taking so long?" Nat Archibald asked appearing on the stairs.

"Huh, I guess I missed a chapter" Danni commented. It was at this point that Charlotte Bass appeared from the hallway behind Blaine carrying a tray of bagels.

"Or four" Danni added "I'm confused, don't you all hate each other?"

"Yes" Blaine said.

"No" Charlotte replied.

"Absolutely" Nat said.

"Well, that's fascinating and ripe for a psychiatrist's case study somewhere but, um, I am looking for Sebastian" she told them. Everything about this situation seemed odd, nothing seemed right. She just wanted to talk to Sebastian and find out what the hell was going on and get the hell out of there.

"He's not here" Charlotte told her.

"I think he is" Danni shot back. She wasn't going to leave without seeing him, she'd spent all day looking for him and she wasn't just about to leave without a fight.

"No, he just left" Blaine said "you must've crossed paths"

"I…" Danni started "I don't believe you"

Blaine took in a deep breath before speaking.

"I didn't want to have to tell you this, but he doesn't want to see you" he said.

"Come on, really?" she asked. She didn't believe him at all, why would he not want to see her? It didn't make sense at all.

"He's telling the truth" Nat assured her. There was something about her voice. It was like she was trying to seem cool and collected but was rather panicked, her mother used this voice a lot.

She headed for the stairs yelling out for Sebastian as she did so. Blaine, Charlotte and Nat blocked her way at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you really going to stop me from seeing my boyfriend?" she asked them. They didn't reply or move.

Finally Sebastian appeared on the stairs. He was wearing a dark blue bathrobe, his hair a mess, looking rather sick.

"What is going on?" he asked. Just what Danni was thinking herself.

He descended the rest of the staircase quickly and moved to stand next to Blaine.

"Sebastian…" Blaine begun.

"It's okay" he said to him walking past him and leading Danni away from the others.

"What's happening?" Danni asked. She was on the brink of tears, it had been a long day, she had no idea what was going on at all with her boyfriend and she hadn't slept much at all the previous night.

"Danni…." Sebastian said.

"Something's going on" Danni stated "and I just want to be let in on what it is"

"It's hard to explain" Sebastian replied. God she was sick of it all, sick of no damn explanations.

"Why don't I make it easy for you?" she said "I know you're keeping something from me, and I'm sick of being the only one you don't talk to about it"

"I'm not talking to anyone" he argued.

"Then what are they doing here, while... while I get a call from a bartender who says you left a bar at two in morning with a bunch of girl? What girls, Sebastian? Who... who were they?" she asked, wiping away the one tear that had begun to fall.

"I don't know" Sebastian mumbled.

"Did something happen last night?" she asked him.

"Please don't…." he told her.

"Is that…is that what you're so afraid to tell me?" Danni asked "that you cheated on me? Did you cheat on me last night? All I need is a yes or a no; did you sleep with someone else?"

There was a real part of her that didn't want to hear the answer that wanted to climb into a big hole of denial and pretend none of this was happening. But the other part, the stronger part, needed to hear the truth.

"Yes" Sebastian finally said, refusing to look up at her.

"I'm done" she told him, hastily wiping at the tears that had started, she didn't want to cry in front of them "I'm done"

She quickly turned away heading for the elevator. Once inside she leaned up against the wall and let the tears flow. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid, she'd trusted him, she loved him, how could he do this to her?

Her phone rang and she dug it out of her pocket, the name 'Sean' flashing across the screen.

"Hey" she greeted, sniffling slightly.

"Hey" Sean replied "did you find Sebastian?"

"Yeah, but I kind of wish I hadn't" she told him.

"That doesn't sound good" he commented "I'm just in the park, do you want to meet up and talk about it? I'm a good listener"

"Yeah, I'd, uh, I'd like that" she replied.

…..

"I can't believe I just did that" Sebastian said, crossing his arms over his chest. He loved Danni, more than anything and now he'd probably just lost her for good.

"Then why did you?" Nat asked "I mean, did you cheat on Danni?"

"No, I remember last night" he told them "I didn't do anything"

"Then why did you say that to her?" Blaine asked.

"Because I would rather Danni think I cheated on her than know what I really did" he told them. All three of them looked as confused as Danni had earlier although they'd been missing the hurt that had been all over Danni's face.

"What did you really do?" Nat asked.

"Danni puts me on a pedestal" he said, ignoring Nat's question "if she knew the truth, she'd never look at me again"

"You're starting to scare even me" Charlie said "what did you do?"

"Come on" Nat said "you can tell us"

"We've seen you at your worst Sebastian, you don't have to hide anything from us" Blaine chimed in.

"He's right" Nat added "I mean none of us are saints"

"Yeah" Blaine quickly agreed "I mean I had sex with her…" he pointed towards Charlie "in the back of a limo"

"Several times" Charlotte added.

"I had sex with you at a wedding while I was his date" Nat reminded him. Blaine looked down for a moment, the subject was still a sore spot for him.

"Once" Nat added, glaring at Charlotte.

"I'm _Chuck Bass_" Charlotte said.

"You can tell us anything, we don't judge" Blaine assured him "we're the non-judging Breakfast Club, we're your best friends, anything you do is something we did, too"

"If I tell you" Sebastian started after a few moments of silence "it can never leave this room"

…

"You all know George Sparks" Sebastian started, running a hand through his hair. They all moved to sit in Blaine's sitting room this time. Blaine was sitting next to Sebastian, Nat and Charlotte, who were still feuding were sitting as far away as they could from each other but still staying close to Sebastian.

"Some better than others" he said to Charlotte "it's not like you didn't lose your virginity to him in seventh grade"

"Sixth actually" she corrected him "and I've been avoiding him ever since, he's a complete psycho"

"What about him?" Nat cut in, eager to get to the story.

"Well something happened the night of the Sheppard wedding…" Sebastian started.

"I think we're all aware of what happened that night" Blaine said.

"No" Sebastian told him "it was something else, something I've tried to escape but George won't let me and now he's blackmailing me"

"Blackmailing you?" Nat asked

"With what exactly?" Charlotte asked.

"Well it started when Blaine thought we had too much to drink" Sebastian started referring to the Shepard wedding, Blaine looked down remembering that night "he told us to go outside, get some air, sober up"

"Instead, we went into the empty bar, I opened the bottle of champagne, and we... well..." Sebastian trailed off unsure how to continue.

"We can skip that part ok?" Blaine asked.

"Go ahead" Charlotte said "I'll fill him in later"

"I left in a hurry" Sebastian continued "I felt so terrible, so guilty for what I had just done, I just, I had to get out of there, I had plans with George after so I just went straight to him, little did I know he had a surprise waiting for me, I didn't know it at the time, but he was taping me. Lucky for me, I was... I was too stuck on what had just happened to be much fun for anyone…." he trailed off.

"What is it?" Blaine asked.

"I can't" he told them burying his head in his hands.

"Yes" Blaine assured him "yes, you can"

"I'm scared" he admitted through tears, running a hand through his hair "I didn't want to do it, sex I mean, so I convinced Petra to do a few lines first….oh god….she started moaning and convulsing, I was scared out of my mind, I kept asking if she was okay, George told me we had to split up, then he said that people might be looking for us, but I... I couldn't go, I just couldn't. So I waited near the hotel, across the street. All I wanted was to see the paramedics helping Petra, but that's not what I saw, I didn't know what to do. I... I just knew I had to leave right away. I took a train heading north, and I got a room and convinced my mom that boarding school was a good idea, and..."

"And never said goodbye" Blaine finished for him "it all makes sense now"

"But what does he even want from you?" Nat asked, Sebastian turned away from Blaine to look at her. During the whole story he'd been so focused on just getting through it he'd almost forgotten she was there.

"Well, when he came back, I... I told him that I moved on from the lifestyle that he was still in, but he didn't like that" Sebastian explained to them, eyes focused on Nat this time "so somehow; he became friends with Danni and Van and called himself Sean"

"We need to find him" Charlotte cut in, her voice was cold and her eyes were dark. She was looking for revenge.

"No, please, promise me, please" he told them "promise me you won't do anything, because if you do, then he'll show Danni….if he even ever speaks to me again…" he trailed off burying his head in his hands again.

…

Both Blaine and Charlotte came to Lily and Bart's wedding rehearsal dinner with Sebastian. He walked in between them, Blaine taking lead, Charlotte following behind.

"Thanks for coming with me" he told Blaine "I don't really feel up to being social"

"Of course" Blaine told him. Lily walked over to them, all smiles until he got Sebastian alone.

"You were supposed to be home hours ago" she told him angrily "come with me"

The two begun to walk across the room together, leaving Blaine and Charlotte behind.

"I'm sorry" he told her "you look great; I hope you don't mind that I asked Blaine to come tonight…"

"What happened to you last night? Why didn't you come home?" Lily asked him, obviously angry "why was Danni looking for you all morning? And why did I get a call informing me that you were on drugs?"

"I wasn't on drugs" he argued. He may have had way too much to drink but he didn't go near any drugs he was sure of it.

"Don't lie to me" Lily snapped "I saw that little home movie you and your friends made"

"You watched that?" Sebastian asked in surprise.

"Well, only part of it. I stopped when that girl had her tongue down your throat. But I can pretty much guess how it ends" Lily said, oh how wrong she was.

"No it…it was a joke" he told her "we were kidding, it's not what it looks like…"

"You know what? You are out of control. I always knew you had a wild side, but how can you look at yourself?" Lily told him "What have you become? I thought we were past all of this, Sebastian. I thought you were doing so well. I have nothing left but to send you to reformatory school. What do you think about that?"

…..

"Hey this is incredible dad" Danni told her father as she met him backstage at the gig, she'd come with Sean who'd she'd spent most of the afternoon talking to "I hope you're sufficiently nervous, there are like one hundred people back there which is like eighty more than the last time you played, I think…"

"Lisa" he said to the woman next to him "this is my sarcastic daughter Danni and her friend Sean"

"Hey" Lisa greeted "it's nice to meet you"

"Pleasure" Danni replied.

"Nice to meet you" Sean added.

"I'll see y'all later" Lisa told them before walking away.

"Okay" Rufus told her before turning to Danni "so no Sebastian?"

Danni crossed her arms over her chest and was quiet. Everything with Sebastian was such a mess and she really didn't want to explain it at that moment.

"I'll take good care of her Mr Humphrey" Sean told him "promise"

"Jeremy's already called me about fifteen times from Mom's to make sure that I call him during "Something Like That" so he can hear you mess up the bridge. So break a leg" Danni told him, she paused, hugging him before she left I'll be in the front row"

"Okay" Rufus replied as Danni and Sean begun to walk towards the audience.

A boy in the audience stood up.

"Hey, George!" he yelled out, waving at someone who Danni was pretty sure was Sean "hey George!"

"I think he thinks he knows you" Danni told him.

"I've never seen her before in my life" Sean quickly told her, linking his arms through hers and leading her away "let's go get a drink"

…..

The driven car that Lily had led Sebastian into pulled up in front of a house Sebastian didn't recognize. He didn't know what he was doing there, one minute he'd been at the rehearsal dinner worrying about being sent away and the next his mother was leading him towards a car.

"Where are we?" he asked her.

"It's the Fairman's house" Lily explained "this is where the girl who died grew up and her parents are expecting you"

"Mom" he said quickly turning to face her "I can't go in there"

"Sweetie..." Lilly started "if I've learned anything in life, it is that sometimes things get in your path, and you have a choice. You can either smash right into them, or you can adjust and move around, but you have to do one or the other in order to move forward"

"How can I do this?" he asked. He was terrified, so sure they were going to hate him.

"I'll be right there with you" Lily replied.

…..

"Where is Sean going?" Danni asked Van.

One second Van was talking to Sean and the next Sean was storming away in a huff. She was just as confused about what had happened as she had been about pretty much everything all day.

"I don't know who he is" Van told her "Nat just called me and told me his name is George"

"That...that's what the guy from earlier called him" Danni remembered "why would he lied about his name?"

"I think there's some other stuff too" Van said.

"Van, Rufus can't find his set list" a roadie interrupted them "do you know where it is?"

"I taped it into the top of his Gibson case, uh... I'll get it" he told the roadie before turning back to Danni "this will just take two minutes, just don't go anywhere, stay right here. I'll be right back"

Pretty much immediately she walked away. She was desperate to find out what was going on with Sean/George, she was sick of being left in the dark. She found him, pretty much around the next corner, looking a mix of angry and scared.

…

"You okay?" Lily asked Sebastian as they left the Fairman house together.

"No mom" he admitted "I feel horrible"

"Well you heard what they said" Lily told him "look, Petra was an addict for ten years, her own parents couldn't get her to stop using, there's no way that a sixteen-year-old boy could have, they don't hold you responsible, you don't need to blame yourself..."

But I am responsible, Mom. I'm the one that gave him the line that killed her" Sebastian argued. He couldn't stop feeling guilty about it.

"Then why do I feel like this?" he asked.

"Because contrary to what I might have said earlier, you are a good person who, since that night, has been living your life with care and compassion and respect for yourself and for others. I'm sorry I doubted you" Lily told him.

"Thank you" he told her hugging her tightly "there's something else I have to do. Will you help me?"

"Absolutely" she told him.

"Take me to see Danni"

…

"Okay" Danni said to George as they sat together near the audience "so you're name's actually George, I still don't see why you thought you had to lie to us"

"Because…I was friends with this girl, who was dating this guy real jealous type you know" George started to explain "anyway his girlfriend broke up with him and he blamed it on me"

"What happened?" Danni asked, glad that finally someone was telling her what was going on. Little did she know it was all lies.

"I came home one day and... My car was broken into, and then a week later, my room was trashed, and I got really scared. I changed all my numbers, I moved in with a friend, and yet he still tracked me down" George explained, he'd always been good at lying "it was my mom's idea to change my name and move out of town. I hate being away from my family, but... It's better than getting hurt, right?"

"Yeah right" Danni agreed. To her it made total sense.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you" he said "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone"

"No, no" she replied "I get it"

"And I also didn't want you to think less of me, because I haven't wanted to admit it, but, um... From the moment that I met you, I've been falling for you. Oh my God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't... I don't know what I'm saying..." he said.

"It's uh-a little loud in here" Danni said over the cheers in the audience "do you want to go somewhere quiet, where we can talk?"

"But your dads about to go on" George pointed out.

"He'll understand" she told him "it's not like we're not going to see this on Youtube for the next five years"

….

Sebastian spotted Blaine when he walked into the room, Lincoln Hawk playing in the background. He was standing next to Charlotte, looking around the room.

"Hey what are you doing here?" they bother asked each other.

"Uh, I'm a big Leaky Hawk fan" Blaine lied.

"I'm looking for Danni and George" Sebastian told him.

"You're out of luck" Blaine said "George's gone"

"And Danni?" he asked. He needed to see her, to make things better.

"I'm out of luck" Charlotte said "she's still around"

"It's all over now" Sebastian told Blaine with a smile "I can finally tell Danni everything, will you help me find her?"

…..

They were halfway up the steps in the audience when Blaine's phone rang 'Humphrey Calling' flashing across the screen in big block letters.

"Hey" he whispered to Sebastian who was standing in front of him surveying the crowd, looking for Danni "it's for you"

"Hey!" Sebastian said when he answered the call "I've been looking all over for you, where are you?"

"With me" the cold voice of George Sparks replied.

"George?" Sebastian asked in reply.

"I hear you told our little secret. If that's the way you wanna play it, that's how we'll play it" he said, voice rather sinister and threatening.

"No, I'm not afraid of you" Sebastian argued.

"Well you should be, because all bets are off" George replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked "what are you going to do?"

"You were right" George said ignoring Sebastian's question "she is special, I always did like the special ones"

George hung up the phone as Danni walked towards him carrying two coffees.

"How did things go with your mom?" she asked him, sitting beside him.

"Good. Yeah. She was glad I finally found someone I could trust" he told her "um... Are you sure that you don't mind missing the after party to have coffee with me?"

"You know after the day I've had, there's nowhere I'd rather be" she replied. He smiled before leaning forward and kissing her, she kissed back and he moved his hand into her hair.


	18. Chapter 18: Much 'I Do' About Nothing

**Chapter Eighteen: **Much 'I Do' About Nothing

"Hey, Danni" he said to her voicemail after he called her for about the hundredth time that morning as he walked around Central Park "I've been trying to reach you all night, I know it's early - or late, if you haven't slept, like me - but um, I'm pretty sure after this message I will have officially filled your voice mail, so uh... I'm, I'm coming over"

….

Sebastian knocked loudly on the door of the Humphrey loft. Danni eventually answered the door. She was tugging on the dress she was wearing to straighten it, like she'd thrown it on in a hurry.

"Hey" he greeted, stepping forward to kiss her "I'm sorry, I know it's earlier but I couldn't sleep, I had to see you, and you're here, which means you slept here, which is a relief, but not a surprise"

"Sebastian" George said, thankfully he was standing behind Sebastian in the doorway of the loft. Sebastian really hoped that meant that nothing had happened between the two of them.

He was holding a tray of coffees and looked surprised to see Sebastian. Although Sebastian knew better than to perceive it as genuine surprise, George was good at faking things.

"The way Danni was talking I thought it was over" George said.

"Over?" Sebastian asked her, heart sinking. Surely he could explain things, fix things, surely they couldn't be over.

"Well maybe not exactly over but…" Danni admitted running a hand through her hair. She was tiered she hadn't slept much at all in the last two nights and she was just wanted to curl up in bed and not deal with any of this. But here they were standing in the loft; it wasn't like she could just avoid the problem.

"I should go, this isn't what I had planned" George said. He placed the coffee's he was holding on the counter as he was saying this before heading for the door.

"I think this is exactly what you had planned!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"Sebastian, this is not Sean's fault" Danni tried to argue. Because in her point of view it wasn't, to her Sean was an innocent bystander it was a whole different story for Sebastian.

"No, it's George's!" Sebastian snapped.

"Whatever!" she snapped back.

"I never meant to get in between you two, I swear" George spoke up.

"Hey, it's okay" Danni told him.

"No, no it's not okay" George said, he was still standing in the doorway, pointing at Sebastian "because now he's upset"

"Yeah I am!" he yelled charging towards him "you manipulative, psycho!"

There would've been a fight if Danni hadn't stepped in between them, Sebastian didn't make another move for fear of Danni getting caught in the middle and being hurt.

"You've been planning this the whole time!" Sebastian yelled at George "he's been lying to you. Danni"

"Goodbye Danni" George said, he turned away from them.

"I'm telling her everything!" Sebastian yelled after him.

"Tell me what?" Danni asked "what do you have to tell me?"

…

One hard to tell story later, Danni and Sebastian were sitting across from each other. Sebastian was waiting for a reaction; she hadn't said anything during the story.

"Do you hate me?" he asked her. She looked up and shook her head.

"No, no of course not" she replied "it's just –uh- it's a lot, and I really wish you had told me this sooner"

"I know" he told her, he moved forward in his seat, leaning towards her and she shuffled backwards "I was just so scared"

"I get it. I get it. I mean, "Hey, I think I killed someone, and I'm being blackmailed by a crazy guy pretending to be someone else" doesn't quite ... roll off the tongue" she said, fiddling with her hands in her lap.

"But it's all over, right?" he asked, standing to leave "I mean, we can fix this?"

She stood as well, an uncertain look on her face.

"Sebastian…last night I-"she started.

"It's okay" he told her "I get it nothing happened"

"No, really" she told him as they walked towards the door together "nothing did happen, he walked me home and I guess he was expecting me to invite him up but I just couldn't, I, uh, kept thinking- I kept thinking about you"

They both paused by the door, he wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly.

"I'll see you at the wedding" he told her "when I told my mom not to go away with Rufus, I said it was because you and I were forever, I knew I was right"

After he had left, Danni picked up her phone and dialled Blaine Waldorf.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Blaine, its Danni…."

….

"Hey it's Sean, you know what to do"

When Danni called the number in her phone listed 'Sean' as she sat next to Blaine Waldorf in his penthouse she only got voicemail.

"Voicemail" she told Blaine.

"Okay" Blaine quickly replied with a nod "like we talked about"

"Hey, hey, it's me, Danni, Um, after you left, Sebastian and I got in a huge fight, and-and he said all this crazy stuff, I honestly don't know what to believe, but...but what I do know is I want to see you. So, uh, call me" she said to his voicemail.

"Excellent work" Blaine told her with a smile as she hung up, he seemed way too excited about this "he's totally calling back"

"This is so weird" she said "I don't normally do plots against people"

"Don't worry virgin, I'll talk you through it" Blaine replied, rolling his eyes. The phone that Danni had placed on the table in front of them began ringing "right on schedule"

She hesitantly picked up and answered the call.

"Hey" she greeted him.

"Hey" he replied "I just got your message"

"So, uh, sorry about this morning with Sebastian, it was awkward to say the least" she told him.

"Yeah, a little bit" he said. There was something about his tone, something dark that she hadn't heard before.

"Last night really changed things for me, Sebastian and I left things kind of uncertain, so I... I think I wanna end it. I know I do. Will you meet me?" she asked. It was a lie, she really didn't know if she wanted to end things or not. She loved him but every time but she just couldn't see him the same way anymore, couldn't look at him and see only the good in him.

"Our spot in the park, by the pond?" he asked after a long pause.

"See you there" she replied.

"Humphrey, you are a born liar" Blaine said with a grin. He seemed strangely excited about the whole thing.

"Uh…thanks, I think" she hesitantly replied.

"All that stuff about last night was genius" he said "anything you want to tell me?"

"Ah, no, like you said just born to lie"

….

"Honestly, Danni, last night was fun, but I didn't really know what it would all mean to you" George said. They'd met up in their spot and started walking together. She felt uneasy about meeting him, it made her feel a little sick to watch him pretend to be a good, nice, guy when she knew the truth.

"Yeah well I normally don't jump in to things like that, so when I do it means a lot to me" she replied.

He smiled and took her hand.

"Me too and that's why I think we should be together forever" he said. She pulled her hand away quickly, she didn't want him touching her, didn't want him anywhere near her. Sure Sebastian had lie to her but he had never meant to hurt her George on the other end had lied with the intent of hurting people.

"George" she started as he paused in front of her "look Sebastian told me everything and I believe him"

"No, no" he argued, talking quickly becoming very defensive "you don't understand, he was upset a-and jealous, I'm sure he told you all kinds of things to make you think the worst of me"

"No, just stop it" she told him, she really didn't want to hear anymore lies.

"I never meant for this to happen, but it did. And I know you feel it too, I mean, how else do you explain last night?" he replied.

"It was just a kiss and I wish it hadn't even gone that far" she pointed out.

"So you're just gonna go back to Sebastian and just leave me all alone?" he asked. He sounded hurt, like she'd done some great, big, horrible thing to him.

"Oh you're not alone, I'm here now" Blaine cut in with a grin stepping out his hiding place, George quickly whirled around "and I brought some people who really, really want to see you, I think you remember your parents"

A older couple standing a few feet away turned around to face them. Danni left at this point, turning around and heading back up the path. She'd done her part it was up to Blaine and the Sparks now and she was sure Blaine would be all too happy to tell her about everything she'd missed.

…..

"So how long are you going to be on the road?" she asked her father who was quick to share the news about the tour he'd soon be on.

"Well I'll get the details, we'll figure it out" he assured her "but it's kind of cool, right?"

"Oh it's very cool" she replied.

"Affirmation from my daughter, a historic moment" he teased.

"Well last night must've been pretty historic also" she pointed out "considering that when I came home, you weren't"

"Yeah, last night was pretty special" he admitted. There was something strange about the way he said that, wistful almost.

"I'm sorry that I skipped out early by the way" she told him, she really was "I-I'd love to hear all about it, but I've got a wedding, _the _wedding"

"Right, the wedding" Rufus said "so that's still on"

"Yeah, yeah it is" she told him sadly, she had figured out that her father still had feelings for Lily Van Der Woodsen a while back and while she wished it was someone else, her father deserved to be in love again, she stood up from where she'd been sitting at the table "Sebastian told me something about you and Lily, I-I don't fully understand it but the reason Lily stayed away was because Sebastian asked her to"

"Thanks Danni" he said as he moved towards the door guitar in hand "that's uh…well just thanks"

Before the front door was even shut another door had opened, the door to Jeremy's bedroom. Jeremy and Van stepped out; Van was wearing a suit for the wedding with an orange vest and tie. She'd never seen him dressed up before; she had to admit he looked pretty good.

"Check out my latest creation" Jeremy said sounding rather proud of himself

"What do you think?" Van asked.

"You clean up nice Abrams" she told him. He smiled warmly at her.

….

At the wedding Blaine found Sebastian sitting inside by himself on a sofa looking miserable. It was a different kind of miserable from the last few days, less panicky and teary more mournful and heartbroken.

"Hey" Blaine greeted as he walked into the room. He quickly moved to sit beside Sebastian on the sofa "how go the prenuptials?"

"Well, my Mom's done this enough times. You'd think she'd be a pro by now, but I don't know, her heart doesn't really seem in it" Sebastian told him.

"You think this will be us in twenty years?" Blaine asked "onto our fourth marriages?"

"We can dream" Sebastian joked. They both laughed, while they loved their parents they didn't want to turn out like them.

"Speaking of true love…" Blaine started "Danni isn't here?"

"She's coming" he assured him after a moment of silence. To Blaine it sounded like he trying to convince himself.

"So all is forgiven?" he asked. He hoped it was, Danni made Sebastian happy, really happy and that was all he really wanted for his friend.

"I'm working on it" Sebastian said.

"What do you have to work on?" Blaine asked "she's the one who has to forgive you"

"That's what I'm working on" he said. It wasn't going to be easy he knew that for sure but he had hope; hope that eventually everything could go back to normal.

….

They two of them had to literally run to the wedding. They were running late, really late. She'd go to thinking about what had happening with Sebastian and George and had lost track of time. She was exhausted as she hadn't slept in the last two days and the last thing she wanted to do was sit through a wedding followed by a reception that would surely go on for a while but she really had to talk to Sebastian.

"Let's pray that Lily is as slow getting dressed as you are" Van said as they ran.

"It's not my fault, I had things on my mind, lost track of time" she argued gathering her dress in her hands so that the bottom didn't hit the ground.

"Let me guess George?" Van asked.

"Amongst other things" she admitted "I thought if I confronted him today I'd feel better but I don't"

"And you want to tell him this?" Van asked, he spotted Sebastian not far ahead of them and they both came to a stop "no time like the present, I'm going to go find my seat, okay?"

Before Danni even got really close, before Sebastian even spotted her the wedding planner pulled him away.

…

"How's your food?" Sebastian asked Danni during the reception. They hadn't talked at all since they had sat done together other than a quick 'hello' from both of them and 'I'm glad you came' from Sebastian. Danni had been staring down at her plate for a while now picking at her food.

"Oh, it's uh its good" she replied looking up,

"I was being sarcastic, you haven't eaten a bite" he pointed out "let's go find somewhere quiet and talk"

She dropped her fork by the plate and stood up.

"Excuse me" she told him "I need some air"

….

Sebastian found Danni sitting outside on one of the chairs the guests had been sitting on earlier. She looked just as miserable as he felt. He hated that he had caused her to be so unhappy, hated seeing her unhappy in general.

"Hey" he softly greeted as he sat down beside her.

"Hey" she replied turning to look at him "you lied to me over and over again and it was easy for you"

"No, it wasn't easy..." he argued.

"I was completely sucked in by a guy pretending to be someone else" she continued "and you knew"

"I couldn't say anything" he told her.

"Well, because you... you were afraid I'd find out you thought you killed someone" she said. God since when had her life become so dramatic.

"I was hoping you'd understand" he admitted looking down at his hands.

"I am the most understanding person in the world. But this?" she told him "and, and, and this is not about who you used to be, your past, or who you were when we met. I mean, the only reason I even kissed George was because yesterday morning you slept with two random girls you met in a bar"

"No, no" he was quick to tell her "I just said that because I thought it would be easier to forgive"

"I don't want to breakup" she said after a long silence "I can't make a decision like that feeling like I do right now, but I think we need a break, we go our separate ways over summer and when school starts again we see how we feel"

"Deal" he told her "if that's what you want but I can tell you now my feelings aren't going to change, I love you"

"I love you too" she told him resting her head on his shoulder.

….

They made their way back into the reception, Danni to find Van so she could leave and Sebastian so he could be with his family. The wedding planner pounced quickly.

"Sebastian, Danielle" he told him "out on the floor"

"Oh no" Danni told him "no, no"

"The bride and groom are asking for photos" the planner shot back.

"That's not necessary" Danni tried to argue but the planner was having none of it, he begun herding them out towards the dance floor and once they were standing out on the dance floor he pushed Danni towards Sebastian, right into his open arms.

"Yes it is, you're going to want to remember this night forever" the planner as cameras begun flashing. She was sure that she'd remember this night just fine without photos.

"I'm sorry" she told him as she joined her hands together at the back of his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Just smile" he replied.

"He's gone, you can let go now" Sebastian told her after they'd been dancing for a few minutes and the photographers had left. She only held on tighter.

"I know" she replied "I don't want to"

They danced like that holding each other close for what seemed like hours, until they were the only couple left on the dance floor.

…..

_One week later._

"So what exactly happened between you and Nat?" Danni asked Van as they stood together in the gallery, surrounded by paint and paint brushes.

"Ah, too pretty for me I guess" he joked, moving one step down on the small ladder he was standing on.

"Oh come on really what was it?" she asked tugging on the baggy button up she was wearing as a smock "the, uh, the whole perpetually stoned, broody thing"

"I actually enjoyed the quiet, it was a nice break from you" he teased.

"Oh, was it her past with Sebastian?" she asked him.

"Nope, that's your issue" he pointed out.

"It must've been, uh, the different world's thing, right, one of you always feeling like a fish out of water?" she suggested.

"I know exactly what you're doing" he told her stepping down off the ladder completely "ask me enough questions about Nat, and I won't ask you about Sebastian"

"Best offence is a good defence" she said with a shrug "I'm not ready to talk about him yet"

"Good" he said "then maybe you'll be quiet for thirty seconds"

"No, no, no, no, no. You better get used to it, Abrams. Welcome to the summer of Danni Humphrey, babbling at your ass 24/7, from dusk till dawn. Come Labor Day, you're gonna be so sick of me..." she said with a grin. It was good to see her happy.

"It's been thirteen years and I'm still not sick of you" he pointed out. He didn't think he'd ever be sick of her, to him she was perfect, the one he could see himself growing old with even if not in a romantic capacity. She was his best and sometimes only friend. He was sure that as long as he had her by his side that he'd be okay.


	19. Chapter 19: Summer, Kind of Wonderful

**Chapter Nineteen: **Summer, Kind Of Wonderful

Her plans to spend the summer with Van are ruined when he heads off to Vermont not long into the summer to spend some time with his family. With her father on his tour and her brother spending most of his time at his internship with Eleanor Waldorf's company, she kind of finds it funny that after all this time of denying that he liked fashion he ended up spending his summer working at Waldorf Designs, she is left alone to with nothing to stop her thinking about Sebastian and if she keeps thinking about Sebastian and how their relationship fell apart she's pretty sure she's going to nuts. She keeps wondering what he's doing and if he's already found someone else by now, early on Gossip Girl reported something about the possibility of Nat and Sebastian getting together but since then neither of them have been spotted together all summer.

Her mind is still messed up about the whole thing, she wants everything to go back to normal with Sebastian but she doesn't known if it can. She gets a job with Jeremiah Harris the author as his assistant, which mostly consists of fetching coffee but it keeps her mind off of Sebastian and will look great on her college application.

"I can't believe I haven't met you earlier" a boy her age said to her during a reading Harris is doing at a bookstore, she's been to a lot of these over the summer so isn't really that interested in listening in instead she'd moved behind the reading behind a bookcase.

The boy is slightly taller than her with dark brown hair, a charming boy next door look and doesn't remind her of Sebastian at all like the boy from last week who she ended up having to rush away from in fear of taking out her emotions on him.

"You've been Harris assistant all summer?" he asked, she nodded a yes "I was at lecture of his in June, I can't believe I didn't see you then"

"Me either, I'm sure I would've remember you if I'd seen you" she told him. He smiles before pulling out his phone.

"Here put your number in" he said "I'll give you a call, make sure we remember each other this time"

She hesitates but takes the phone from him and punches in her phone number. What harm can it do?

"I read from your favourite chapter" Harris reported passing the boys whose names she still is a bit fuzzy on "or did you not notice?"

"Honestly I've heard that chapter so many times sometimes I think I wrote it myself" she joked.

"Hmm, speaking of which" Harris said taking a sip of water "how is that paper you're writing, you know the one your internship requires you to hand in?"

"It's uh- imminent" she replied.

"So is death" he returned "be more specific"

"I'm just polishing it a little, it's almost done" she tells him.

"Noah Shapiro from The Paris Review is really looking forward to reading it" he pointed out.

"Calling him was an amazing thing to do for me really, thank you" she said

"I told him it would be even better then you piece in the New Yorker" he said signing the book of the woman who had started the line behind him "don't let me down"

"It'll be on your desk first thing in the morning sir" she replied.

"Why don't you go home and finish now?" he suggested.

…

Jeremy dumped a large box full of assorted button onto the table when he arrived home before sitting down in a chair in front of them and beginning to sort through them.

"Well I guess now's a good as any to order dinner, what do you think about Indian?" she asked him looking up from her laptop.

"Nah it's too hot for Indian, what about popsicles" he said not even looking up from his buttons "where's mom?"

"She and Alex had tickets to South Pacific" she told him leaning over her laptop to look at the buttons and adding teasingly "what is that, more homework?"

"Finish your story yet?" he replied finally looking up from his buttons.

"Almost" she lied.

"Good" he said standing up and heading for his bedroom "because I'm hoping by reading it that I can find out why you and Sebastian broke up in the first place"

"We didn't break up" she pointed out.

He leaned against his door and rolled his eyes.

"Just as good as" he argued opening his door and stepping into her room.

"Hey Jeremy!" she called out to him looking at the blank white page on her laptop screen "I'm going to go out and get some food"

…

Most of Sebastian summer is spent in a fake relationship with Nat while actually spending most of his time alone. He can't stop thinking of Danni, everything reminded him of her and he has no clue what is going on with her. They don't exactly belong to the same circles.

Thankfully towards the end of summer Blaine arrives in the Hampton and he finally has a distraction.

"You didn't do _anything_?" Blaine asked the morning after his arrival in the Hamptons as they sit on lounge chairs in the sun in front of the large pool "all summer? What about all those rumours I heard about you and Nat?"

"Nah" he replied leaning back against the chair "completely untrue, they just got people off my back about Danni and Nat could do whatever she wanted"

"What so you didn't have any fun with anyone all summer?" Blaine asked.

"No, Danni and I haven't broke up, we're just on a break" he pointed out.

Blaine rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other.

"That's just something you say when you want to break up but just don't want to say it" Blaine argued turning towards him.

"You're wrong" Sebastian replied crossing his arms over his chest. He whole heartedly believed that he still had a chance with Danni that they could get back on track and nothing Blaine said was going to change his mind.

"Julie is so amazing" Blaine said, eyes widening and quickly changing the subject "she's very classy, speaks six languages"

"Huh?" Sebastian completely confused "who's Julie?"

Blaine gave him a 'shut up' look before jerking his head towards something behind Sebastian. He turned to see Charlotte Bass mobile phone in hand.

"Oh" Sebastian said quickly putting on a large fake smile "she sounds amazing, last time we talked you hadn't even met her"

"Oh I know it was very whirlwind" Blaine replied with an over exaggerated laugh "she's just so great, she tells the best stories"

"You're lying" Charlotte bluntly stated.

"No I'm not" Blaine argued looking offended.

"Your eyes are doing that thing where they don't match your mouth" she pointed out.

"I wasn't aware that robots got jealous" Blaine quipped "did they update your software while I was away?"

"We both know that this girl is just a prop" Charlotte replied "so that you can hurt me like I hurt you"

"You didn't hurt me!" Blaine snapped "I will admit that waiting in Tuscany for you the first few days was mildly humiliating but when I realised you weren't going to show, I rallied, made a friend on the trip over"

"Who, boring Bonnie? My dad's employee" Charlotte asked crossing her arms over her chest "I had her fired just for you"

"Well I owe her everything" Blaine replied "she introduced me to Julie; you know I think she might be the one"

….

"Not today kid" the bartender told her as she stepped into the near empty bar she'd agreed to meet Jeremiah Harris.

"She's with me" Mr Harris told him and the bartender shrugged and went back to cleaning the glasses.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you while you were working" she told him noticing the notepad in front of him.

"Well you wouldn't be if you were here on time" he pointed out "let me guess, you're empty handed?"

"I just need one more day" she replied.

"And what the last sixty weren't enough?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Mr Harris, I'm trying but it's just every time I sit down there's something in the way, I couldn't focus" she said.

"Excuses are for the unemployed of which you are now one" he said standing up from his stool "if you won't do your homework then neither will I, you will get no letter of recommendation from me"

"Working for you is very important to me" she tried to explain.

"And yet your actions have shown the complete opposite" he told her "drop my spare key in the mail that I'm sure you have time to do"

She hung her head as he sat down again. She walked out the door after he picked up his pen again.

…..

"Damn that mother Chucker!" Blaine exclaimed the next day as he and Sebastian walked through the streets together smoothies in hand "she's totally right, I don't even like Julie"

"Thank you" Sebastian chimed in hoping that Blaine would put this whole 'Julie is the one' charade to rest "I was waiting for that"

"I only hooked up with her a week ago because I didn't want to get off that plane alone and let Charlotte Bass knew she ruined my summer"

"Was it really that bad?" Sebastian asked.

"I kept seeing her damn face everywhere" Blaine complained. Sebastian's summer was pretty much the same; everywhere he looked something reminded him of Danielle.

"At least I could've got a more interesting stand in then Julie" Blaine said "do you know hard it is to find a good fake girlfriend on short notice?"

"She was smart and fun when I met her yesterday, really cute too" Sebastian said in an attempt to stand up for the girl his best friend was using.

"You don't have to lie anymore Sebastian" Blaine told him "she's served her purpose, now that Charlie is on her way back to the city, I can dump Julie just in time to go to the White Party stag"

…

"I can't believe it" Danni told her father over the phone as she made herself some breakfast "I finally get a job working for my literary idol and he cans me, I did everything he asked me from picking up his dry cleaning to keeping him sober before noon, which was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do"

"Harder than finishing your story?" Rufus asked.

"I just can't write it dad" she told him "I don't know why"

"You're talking to a guy who couldn't finish a song in twelve years" he pointed out "I get it, so what is this story about anyway?"

"The end of a relationship between two people from different worlds" she replied.

"Science fiction, hey?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied letting out a small sheepish laugh. Even though they hadn't officially broken up it was obvious that the story was supposed to be about her and Sebastian.

"If I can offer you some fatherly advice from –uh- three hundred miles away…." Rufus started.

"I haven't finished my story because I haven't dealt with all my feelings about Sebastian" she finished.

"Couldn't have said it better myself" he told her "even if you had let me"

"I've been trying not to think about him all summer because if I did I was afraid I would just go running right back to him without even sorting out my feelings" she explained "I've been doing my best to keep myself distracted"

"You've been running all summer" her father pointed out "maybe it's time you stopped, turned around and faced it"

….

"I know I shouldn't use you as an excuse" Nat said shoving her hands into the pockets of her dress as she walked around the grounds with Sebastian "especially after you found out who I was seeing"

"I get it, you have feelings for him" he told her "but he's married Nat and I know you just want to go tonight to check out the competition"

"No, I just want to see him and his wife together, just once" Nat argued looking up from her shoes to look him the eye.

"And that's called checking out the competition" Sebastian pointed out "and it's really stupid and potentially dangerous"

An awkward silence fell over them and Nat turned away again and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" she finally said.

"But since I've been stupid and dangerous in the past I'm not really one to talk" he admitted "it was probably going to be an uneventful evening anyway, I'll pick you at five"

…..

After catching a bus to the Hamptons and a car to the Rhode's Hampton house Danni found herself on the front steps, knocking on their front door. Sebastian's grandmother, Cece, answered dressed in white and holding a string of pearls.

"Danielle Humphrey, I have to say I am honestly surprised" she told her.

"Is Sebastian here?" Danni asked.

"No, he's at a party that I'm late for myself actually" Cece said. Danni nodded, disappointed that she didn't get her chance to sort out her feelings about Sebastian with him and turned to leave.

"Wait, could you…please?" Cece asked nodding at the string of pearls.

"Oh sure" Danni told her stepping inside and closing the door behind her, Cece turned around and handed her the pearls, the clasp was pretty easy to join together so the job was rather quick.

"Thank you" Cece sincerely told her.

"You seem, uh, I don't know, you seemed different" Danni said, unsure of her phrasing.

"A lot of things are in remission Miss Humphrey not the least of which is my former attitude" Cece replied "going through something like I did changes you, you begin to see things different"

"Oh yeah?" Danni asked "like how?"

"Like seeing that the keys to someone else's happiness are not necessarily the keys to your own" she said fiddling with her pearls "Sebastian thinks he's had me fooled this summer but I know the truth, his feelings for you are still as strong as they were at the debutant ball perhaps even stronger"

Danni let out a laugh, completely thrown a back that it was Cece that was saying these things.

"Are you sure I'm at the right house?" she joked. Cece laughed in replied holding up an invitation to the White Party.

"This party that you're about to take me to has a very strict dress code" Cece said with a smile.

…..

"Come on cheer up" Sebastian told Nat linking their arms together as they walked, Nat smiled at him and he was glad it wasn't the 'I'm only smiling because you're making me' type of smile she'd been shooting him the whole party. Her smile quickly dropped when they passed the married man Nat was having an affair with.

"What are you still doing here?" he hissed at Nat as he walked past.

"What did he just say to you?" Sebastian asked her noticing her expression.

"He just asked me what I was still doing here" Nat explained "god, I don't even know what I was thinking"

"No, don't feel bad" he told her, he hated when she was sad almost as he much as he hated Danni being sad "it's his fault for getting things started with you in the first place"

"I know" Nat said in reply "but it was stupid, I just wish I could make him feel as badly as I do right now"

"You totally can" Sebastian said with a smirk pulling her into a long kiss. When they finally pulled apart Sebastian spotted the last person he expected to see that day staring at him, Danielle.

"Of course" she said before turning around and quickly walking away from them.

"No, no Danni wait" he told her hurrying after her.

"No, thank you" she muttered rubbing her forehead.

"I didn't expect to see you today, you completely surprised me" he tried to explain to her

"Well I have to say you didn't" Danni told her "you and Nate huh? So even bad history repeats itself"

"It's not like that" he told her.

"Let me guess you have an explanation?" she asked turning to face him.

"I was just trying to help her make someone jealous" he said.

"Well maybe next time can you wait until we've actually broken up before you go around and make out with other people?" Danni snapped angrily before hurrying away.

God he was the biggest idiot, the kiss didn't mean anything at all but he still kissed her. He'd been planning on heading back to the city and school and Danni and telling her how nothing had changed how he was still in love with her. He'd thought they'd be able to get back together and that this break would be over. He was pretty sure he just completely ruined any chance of that ever happening.

…

He found her on the beach after looking everywhere else he could for her. She was sitting on the sand, knees curled up to her chest and looking out at the water. He walked towards her and sat down beside her. He expected her to get up and walk away but she merely rested her chin on her knees. They sat in silence for a few moments before Danni spoke.

"I want to hate you" she said "god I really want to hate you, it would be a lot easier for me if I could just hate you"

"You know where I stand, you know that I still love you" he told her "and now it's up to you, what do you want to do now?"

"After everything that's happened" she started "do you really think we can work?"

"I have no idea" he admitted "you'll never know until you try"

She slowly unfurled her legs and stood up, she brushed some of the sand of the dress she was wearing, which Sebastian only now realised was an old one of his grandmothers, and reached out a hand towards him. He took it and she helped him up.

"Let's give it a go" she said. He grinned excitedly and grabbed her around the waist pulling her into a tight hug and quite literally sweeping her off her feet. She laughed loudly, looping her arms around his neck. She leaned in kissing him and he quickly kissed her back.

"I've missed you" she said.


	20. Chapter 20: Never Been Marcied

**Chapter Twenty: **Never Been Marcied

It took a few moments for Sebastian to remember where he was that morning when he woke up. Upon looking down he noticed Danni's still sleeping form pressed up against him, a blanket draped over the two of them. She moved in her sleep, shuffling closer to him. He in turn wrapped an around her back, holding her close. The sun was up and although he had no idea what time it was he knew they should probably get dressed and get off the beach, he wasn't looking forward to moving though, moving meant snapping out of this peaceful scene and back into reality. He shook her shoulder; she screwed up her face, in a way that he found completely adorable, groaned and opened her brown eyes.

"And how is my _girlfriend_ this fine morning?" he asked purely so he could call her his girlfriend. He grinned as he said it enjoying the way the word sounded coming out of his mouth, the word made him think of the future, of new beginnings and waking up with Danni by his side years into the future.

She smiled at him, that wide smile he loved to see.

"Well your_ girlfriend_ is wondering how long you're going to be doing that?" she said with a small laugh.

"Okay, okay, I won't do it again" he told her as she sat up, peeling his arm off of her.

He'd always admired her figure, slim and lean from years of athleticism, but now watching her standing in front of her, sun light illuminating off of pale skin, he couldn't remember seeing anyone so beautiful.

She picked up her dress which had once been lying on the blanket but had at some point during the night fallen into the sand. She stood up and shook the sand out of before slipping it on.

"Can you help me with this?" she asked motioning to the zipper at the back of her dress. He nodded, standing up and moving to stand beside her. She pulled her dark, wavy hair out of the way and he gently pulled the zip up. When he was done she pushed her hair back and turned to face him.

"I've got to get going" she said leaning forward to kiss him one more time "I'll see you back in the city"

….

They ended up seeing each other again before they got back to the city. They both ended up catching the jitney thinking the other was going to be catching the train. Sebastian spotted her first as he walked towards the stop for the jitney on the phone to Blaine. He hung up not long after he saw her, hunched over her note book, pen paused over the paper.

"Hey" he greeted stopping in front of her "I thought you were going to catch the train"

"Ah, yeah me too" she admitted "I was going to use the ride to think things over"

"Things?" he asked.

"Yeah things, us, last night" she told him closing her note book.

"Oh, you're not having second thoughts are you?" he quietly asked suddenly very aware of how many other people were around. He'd thought things were good this morning, more than good actually but now he was beginning to wonder if Danni thought the same.

"I just think we've still got a lot to sort out" she replied.

Nothing got sorted out on the jitney though. Danni attempted to drown out the world and listen to some music but Sebastian pulled her headphones out of her ears when he couldn't get her attention. He handed her the magazine he'd finished reading.

"I thought you'd like …" he paused as their hands brushed over each other when she reached for the magazine "to read the music reviews"

After an incident involving chocolate covered strawberries and Danni falling in Sebastian's lap when the bus hit a bump in the road after she'd stood up, she grabbed his hand and they headed for the small bathroom in the back of the bus for what essentially was a repeat of the previous night.

…..

"I just got your message" Sebastian told Blaine as he walked into the Waldorf penthouse and spotted his friend, clipboard in hand, Dorota by his side "a party at the Hudson, hey? Since when are you having a party?"

"Since it became clear that Marcie doesn't think I'm worthy of meeting her family" Blaine replied looking back at his clipboard. Sebastian rolled his eyes, Blaine was going way overboard with this, but then again it would be out of character for Blaine _not _to go overboard with this "obviously I have some more work to do"

"You don't have to do this" Sebastian told him.

"Yes I do" Blaine shot back scanning the page of his clipboard with his eyes, looking it up and down "hey Danni likes soccer, or football as Marcie calls it, do you think it would be too weird if she came?"

Well that was unexpected. Blaine inviting Danni to a party, a party that he considered important, but then again Blaine had been surprisingly nice to Danni lately. Sure he still had his snarky attitude towards her but at times he almost seemed to care for her, almost protective in some cases.

"Um no, I don't think so" he told him. He wanted to talk more with Danni before telling anyone they were back together, he wondered if she'd told anyone yet.

"Good, so you'll call her" he said, it was a statement not a question. As if just because he said it was going to be happen it would, typical Blaine style.

"Does that mean you think Danni has at least one redeeming quality?" Sebastian teased.

"As longs as she can tell her arse from her Arsenal, then she's aces" Blaine said with a laugh.

….

"Hey did you get my message?" Sebastian asked when Danni called him later that day.

"Yeah, yeah and listen before you say anything else I wanted to say that this morning on the bus…." she said trailing off at the end with a small laugh.

"Yeah, we didn't exactly give each other time to think" he replied laughingly.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually, I think we should give each other some alone time for a while, think things over" she told him. He dropped his smile that was not what he wanted to hear, he'd been looking forward to spending time with her again even if it was at a party Blaine was throwing to impress a girl.

"Well uh Blaine's not going to be happy with that" he said, rubbing at the back of his neck as he sat down on his bed.

"Blaine?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah apparently your knowledge of soccer is integral to Blaine's plan" he explained with a slight smirk "he just wants you to come to some party"

"A party?" she asked.

"Yeah, well I'll be there" he told her "and I _really_ want to see you"

She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Ah, yeah sure" she said "I guess we could start with the new plan tomorrow"

…..

"Danni, hi!" Blaine greeted her as soon as she stepped into the party grabbing her hand and dragging her into the crowd "come meet the lady!"

He seemed unnervingly cheerful and surprisingly kind to her. She wondered if this was because of his new girlfriend and the happiness she was bringing him or if it was all part of a plan.

"Uh, hello l-lady" she said as she and Blaine stopped in front of Sebastian and a woman that Danni assumed was Blaine's new girlfriend, Danni held out her hand for her to shake "I'm Danielle Humphrey"

"Marcie Beaton" the lady replied shaking her hand "it's nice to meet you Danielle, have you uh met Sebastian?"

"Ah yes we've met" Sebastian cut in smiling across at Danni, who smiled back. The smile didn't quite reach her eyes though and he could see she was uncomfortable.

"Danni is a football fanatic" Blaine suddenly said, placing a hand on Danni's upper arm "she's a huge Chelsea fan"

"Oh me too" Sebastian said "I just love them"

Marcie barely spared him a second glance before turning back to Blaine and Danni.

"Uh, freshen your drink?" she asked Blaine who was currently occupied with the drink in his hands, quickly downing it.

"Oh, yes please" Blaine said handing her the glass before walking off with her and leaving Sebastian and Danni alone.

"He actually calls her 'the lady'?" Danni asked with a laugh, Sebastian laughed as well, he was glad to see that she no longer seemed uncomfortable. He was beginning to worry that it was him that was making her uncomfortable but now smiling and laughing with her he no longer had that worry.

"I'm so glad you're here" he told her taking hold of her hands, his smile quickly dropped when he spotted an unwelcome party guest over Danni's shoulder "ugh, Charlotte's here and Blaine didn't invite her"

Danni twisted her head to look at Charlotte.

"Maybe she's his plus one" she suggested referring to the man that stepped through the door after Charlotte, the same man that Nat had been having an affair with. Sebastian knew this wasn't going to end well.

"I have to go" he told Danni dropping her hands "I'll be back"

…..

"Come on" Sebastian told Blaine "if you really like this girl, just go and apologize"

Sebastian literally pushed him until he was standing in front of the Duke who happened to be Marcie's stepfather and the man Charlotte had come to the party with.

"Ah Duke" Blaine started "I'm so sorry for what I said earlier about the uh, the Botox, I honestly didn't mean it, look I know you're here with Charlotte and I can only imagine what she's said about me, limo sex, social torture of freshman, blackmail but I can assure you there's an explanation for _all _of it"

"Save your breath Blaine" the Duke said "Charlotte didn't tell me a thing"

"She didn't?" Blaine asked.

"She didn't?" Sebastian echoed surprised.

"I told her not to bother, none of it makes any difference to me" the Duke said, Blaine started smiling a hopeful smile "because despite your best efforts, which are completely transparent by the way, Marcie is never going to end up with a lowly Waldorf"

"Nat!" Sebastian exclaimed upon noticing the girl heading their way, he started moving heading for her.

"Nat?" the Duke asked in surprise turning to look at her.

"Camden?" Nat asked, using the Duke's first name walking towards him.

"You two know each other?" Blaine cut in.

"No, no" Sebastian quickly lied "uh, just from book club this summer but that's it they've had no other personal contact, uh, Blaine's dating Camden's stepdaughter and uh Camden, Nat's Blaine's ex"

…

"This party is a complete bust" Blaine later sulked, standing by the railing at the edge of the roof, leaning his head against it, refusing to look at Sebastian instead focusing on his feet "my life is a bust"

This was familiar territory for Sebastian every time Blaine thought he'd failed at something he'd quickly start sulking, the worse the failure, the worse the sulking that followed.

"Well it serves you right" Sebastian pointed out "you were trying to convince Marcie that you were someone you're not"

"B-but my intentions were good" Blaine tried to argue looking up from the ground "I really do like her, as soon I knew she liked me too I would've relaxed and dropped the manipulative plotting and devoted myself to being the best boyfriend ever"

"See, there you are" Sebastian said with a grin "just show the Duke this guy and he'll want you to be with Marcie, this is you, just be yourself, or you can stay here and feel sorry for yourself but I'm going to go and find Danni, cheer up"

…

He found Danni waiting for an elevator. He looked down at the watch wrapped around his wrist, he'd been gone for a lot longer then he'd expected. He seemed to do that a lot, dash off and leave Danni alone at parties, he felt bad about it but couldn't help but feel happy about doing his part to save Nat and Blaine from impending disaster.

"You leaving?" he asked her.

"Yeah" she replied turning to look at him "I've got to pick Jeremy up from the train, I didn't know if you were coming back so…"

"How about I come with you?" he suggested grinning; he looked around before adding "why don't we get out of here?"

He stepped closer to her until she was pushed up against the wall; he leaned in close and said:

"What do you say we forget thinking and just follow our hearts?"

He crushed his lips into hers, moving with the kiss as she returned it quickly. He ended up pressing her against the wall beside the elevator.

"Are you sure that's your heart you're following?" she asked teasingly with a laugh when they finally pulled apart.

"Shut up or I'll change my mind" he said returning the laugh; he leaned in and kissed her again.

"Well clearly there are other forces in the universe at work here" Danni said once they separated.

"Oh yes, forces much more powerful than us" Sebastian said smiling as Danni started the kiss this time.

"Are you two back together?" Nat asked, neither of them had noticed her walk into the room as both of them were more occupied with each other.

"Ah, no, no" Danni lied "that was just a friendly…"

"Kiss?" Nat finished.

"You coming?" Sebastian asked Nat as the elevator doors opened up behind them

"Uh, no, no" Nat said looking down at her phone "you guys go ahead"

"Good" Sebastian said with a grin looping his arms around Danni's back and pulling her closer "because this elevators going to be in use"


	21. Chapter 21: The Dark Night

**Chapter Twenty One: **The Dark Night

School starts soon so they're making the most of their summer, walking the streets of the city and eating ice cream from paper cups. Danni's plan of staying away from Sebastian and given herself some time to think had pretty much been ruined after Blaine's party.

"A coming out party?" Danni asked when Sebastian suggested using the upcoming back to school party to announce to everyone that they were a couple again "really?"

"Yeah well people are going to find out sooner or later" he said, slipping a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and kissing her "we're not exactly the most covert secret couple"

"Yeah, my families getting a little curious about my new friend Clara that keeps calling and calling" she admitted.

"See, we tell each other once and then it's done" he told her "and now, thank you universe, we have the perfect opportunity"

"At a party hosted by Blaine Waldorf, the biggest Danni Humphrey supporter in all of Manhattan" Danni sarcastically pointed out.

Sebastian stopped and turned towards her, he dropped the smile from his face and his tone of voice became quite serious.

"What are you so scared of?" he asked.

"Right now, heatstroke" she joked. She'd had done it all her life, fired off a joke when she was stressed about something and right now the way Sebastian was making such a big deal about coming out as a couple was stressing her out.

He rolled his eyes and begun walking away from her, obviously unhappy.

"Look" she started hurrying to catch up with him "it's just that things are so great with us right now and if we start telling people…."

"What?" he asked "what could anybody possibly say that could change this?"

"You're right" she admitted as they came to a stop on the sidewalk "I'm in"

Instead of responding verbal he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her in close and kissed her as she slung her arms around the back of his neck.

"Everything's going to be fine" he said as he pulled away before kissing her again.

….

She was greeted by her sweaty younger brother not long after she got home. He yelled out her name, although some people would argue that he squealed and pulled her into a tight, bear hug almost knocking her right off her feet.

"Ugh" she muttered "you're sweaty, very sweaty"

"So it's true?" he asked when he finally pulled away "you're really back together, it wasn't a doctored photo?"

"Yeah, yeah it's true" she told him and he smiled even wider even though she didn't think that was physically possible "we just haven't told anyone yet"

"That's great" he said "you two belong together"

Jeremy's phone rang at that point, his new boss on the other end, so their conversation ended there. As Jeremy walked away her dad walked in the front door carrying a few bags of groceries.

"I ran into your brother downstairs" he told her "so the words out hey?"

"Apparently" she replied with a shrug.

"I'm happy for you" he said putting down the groceries and moving to stand in front of her "so you two have worked out all your issues?"

No, their issues had not been sorted out at all, as much as Danni planned to have everything sorted out they still hadn't talked about what had happened. They still could, or at least that's what she told herself, just because they hadn't done it before they got back together doesn't mean they were destined to fail.

"Yep, all squared away" she lied.

"Well, that's great" Rufus told her, his smile had disappeared. It was obvious that he knew she was lying, he'd pretty much always been able to tell when she was lying and she'd never been any good at it.

…

Things with Blaine were rather awkward. Sebastian was supposed to help him out with the party he was planning but for most of the time they'd sat in silence, every so often Blaine would say something about the party like when the flowers were arriving or did he get the catering order but that was pretty much it so Sebastian decided to start the conversation himself.

"So Eleanor comes home today" he said "you must be excited that she finally gets to meet Marcie"

"And see why she's so wonderful" Blaine said looking up from the papers covering the table they were sitting at "it's not often that you meet a woman whose intelligent, sophisticated, has an appreciation of golden age Hollywood and has manners to boot"

"Wow" Sebastian said, sounding rather uninterested about the whole thing "sounds like you really like her"

"Yes I do" Blaine replied turning back to his papers and picking up his pen.

"Do you see what I just did there?" Sebastian asked sitting up a little more and leaning forward "I expressed an interest in your relationship, look I know you know about me and Danni even Dorota told me she was happy for me"

"I'm happy for you" Blaine replied. He didn't sound it; he didn't even look up from his papers.

"I know you don't approve of her" Sebastian started.

"True" he admitted.

"But why can't you support me?" he asked. He supported all of Blaine's relationships, except the one with Charlotte at the beginning but he did begin to accept it before the whole Tuscany fiasco, so why couldn't Blaine return the favour?

"Have you two talked about everything?" Blaine asked finally paying Sebastian his full attention "all the very real reasons you broke up?"

Sebastian was about to argue that they hadn't actually broken up but knew it made no difference.

"Not completely" he admitted.

"Well when you do if you're still together I'll be happy for you" Blaine replied "until then I think you're just fooling yourselves"

…..

"He can be so infuriating" Sebastian complained as he and Danni took a walk around the park that afternoon, he was hoping that the more time they spent together the better things would be between them "sometimes I just wanna….okay enough Blaine bashing"

"No, no" Danni replied "don't stop on my account, keep on bashing"

"I mean obviously we have things to talk about" Sebastian said, which is what Danni had been saying ever since the beach not that she was going to bring that up now "and we'll talk about them, but it's no big deal right?" he paused looking over her, surprised when she didn't say anything "oh my god, you agree with him don't you?"

"No, no I don't" she argue "it's just that-"

She was cut off by Sebastian's cell as it begun to ring. He dug it out of his pocket and looked down at the caller id.

"Oh it's my mum, she's calling from Shanghai, I've got to take this" he said falling out of step so that he was standing behind her.

"Sure go ahead" she told him but he'd already answered.

"Are you Danni Humphrey?" an unfamiliar voice asked, she turned around and noticed three younger and smaller girls standing in front of her looking like a mixture of Charlotte Bass and Nat Archibald wannabees.

"Uh yeah" she replied confused "how can I help you?"

"How could you do it?" the one on the left end snapped at her

"What I'm sorry, what-"

"Get back together with Sebastian?" the left one said "don't you know he's just going to lie to you again?"

"He doesn't respect you, he never will" the middle one added. The whole situation was incredibly strange, since when did people she'd never met before start caring this much about her relationship. Her whole school hadn't cared about her existence not long ago, boy how things had changed.

"E-excuse me?" Danni asked them "who are you?"

"We read about everything on Gossip Girl" the left one informed her "your whole breakup; we're totally on your side, except for her" she jerked her head to the one of the right side, a blonde girl that looked like he could be Sebastian's long lost sister, well she certainly had that 'don't mess with me' glare going on like Sebastian had perfected "she's a Sebastian"

"Okay well look" she started "this is both creepy and none of your business, so if you could just…go, please if you could just run along"

"I-I lost her" Sebastian thankfully interrupted "they were on a yacht with some Greek prince"

His eyes widened upon noticing the three girls, he seemed just as confused as Danni was.

"Hello…" he said.

"Yeah ignore them" Danni told him.

"Sebastian how could you forgive her after sleeping with George?" the right one asked.

"Hey, I didn't sleep with him" Danni argued, she was really getting sick of people thinking she did, in fact she was getting sick of these girls all together "please go"

"But we're on your side" the middle one said as if it made it any less strange.

"Not me" the blonde one cut in "her mouth kissed George's think about that the next time-"

"Oh, okay" Sebastian interrupted him "that's enough, now I'm telling you to go, go on get out of here, shoo"

"Thank you" Danni added as the three girls finally left.

"Wow" Sebastian said "what was that?"

"The power of Gossip Girl" Danni replied.

"Maybe there are some things that we should talk about" Sebastian admitted.

"Well I think so" Danni said, she'd been saying that for a while now.

"There's some stuff I have to do" he told her "now, before the party, so why don't we-"

"We'll talk later, when I come to pick you up" she finished for him.

"Yeah perfect" he agreed.

…

She was supposed to be getting ready for the back to school party but had gotten distracted by the multiple 'Sebastian, Danni should they, shouldn't they?' Threads online, most of the commenters were people from New York, some were even people she knew but there were a few from the other side of the country and a handful that weren't even in the same country which was interesting yet completely creepy at the same time.

"Hey sorry" she told Van after she had finished getting ready for the party and left her room.

"So how's public opinion on the Danni, Sebastian front?" Rufus asked.

"Well it turns out most people think I'm an ass, a passionate minority hope I'm just an idiot" she said before turning to Van "you ready?"

"Nat's running late" he replied sounding pretty miserable, she made a mental note to talk to him about whatever was going on with Nat tomorrow "I'll just meet you there"

"Okay you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah" he said nodding.

"You still positive you don't want me tagging along?" Rufus cut in, sure the party was supposed to be a back to school thing for students and their parents but for Danni tonight was about working on her relationship and she didn't really want her father hanging around for that.

"No offence dad" she replied "but I think things are awkward enough"

"Well it's not like I'd have to be a third wheel" he said "I could bring a date"

She laughed before she even knew she was doing that.

"What?" he asked.

"No, no it's not that you having a date is funny" she quickly said "or completely out of the realm of possibility, just within the gates"

"One day I might surprise you" Rufus said with a smile, jerking his head towards the door "go"

"See you there" she told Van, who still looked pretty miserable, as she left.

…..

Sebastian was still getting ready when she got to his penthouse so she occupied herself with just looking at the place. Almost every single thing that she could see looked extravagant and expensive.

"Sorry I'm late" Sebastian told her when he finally appeared "you look great, as always"

"Thanks" she replied "you too"

There was a loud buzzing noise as the numerous lights begun to flicker around them.

"That's troubling" Danni commented as the lights turned back on, hopefully the power stayed on.

"Maybe we should just go" Sebastian said guiding her towards the elevator. Being the first one to reach it Danni pressed the button. They stood together in silence for what seemed liked years before Sebastian spoke.

"So did you do anything this afternoon?" he asked.

"No" she replied "you?"

"No" he said and they were quickly back to awkward silence.

"Slow elevator" Danni commented after a few more moments of silence reaching forward to press the button for the elevator again. The doors finally opened with a ding and they stepped inside.

…..

"My names Danni Humphrey" Danni told the voice on the other end of the line. They were trapped in the elevator as the power had just gone out and Danni really wanted to get the hell out of there so she took the initiative to use the emergency phone "yeah, the elevators stuck"

"Oh okay" she said when they told her the news of the city wide blackout "okay, thank you"

"Well it's a city wide blackout so the guy says we just have to wait and hope the power comes back on soon" she told Sebastian who'd been quite ever since they got into the elevator "what?" she asked him noticing the strange expression on his face. He shook his head.

"No, I know when you're thinking of something so just tell me" she told him.

"It's just that you probably should've mentioned my name" he finally said.

"Are you kidding?" she asked not meaning to sound cruel but aware she did "no I'm serious do you think there's a box that says open in case of Sebastian Van Der Woodsen emergency?"

"I just live in the building okay?" he argued.

"Look it's a city wide black out, there must be hundreds of people stuck in elevators right now" she pointed out.

"Well if you're not going to call them can we just drop it?" he asked "because you're making it hotter"

For the first time in a while she noticed how hot it was inside the elevator, just another reason to add to her list of why she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. She picked up the phone again.

"Yeah, hello it's Danni Humphrey again, the girl stuck in the elevator" she told the man on the other end "I just forgot to say that I'm with Sebastian Van Der Woodsen"

"Well they're going to send someone" Danni hesitantly reported to Sebastian when she got off the phone.

…..

"What you want Danni?" Sebastian snapped after a few minutes of more tense silence "for me to never say my name"

"I'm not getting into this now" she told, she was hot, sweaty and had no way of leaving; she really didn't want to start a fight right now.

"We thought we could avoid dealing with last year, well this is fate telling us-"

She ignored him; suddenly feeling very trapped, and jumped hoping to grab the panel on the elevator's roof, she barely reached it but it was enough to knock it loose.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting out of here" she replied jumping again and knocking the panel further away.

"Someone's coming, the man said so!" Sebastian snapped.

"Oh, because someone always comes to save Sebastian Van Der Woodsen?" she angrily replied.

"That's not fair" he told her.

"I know it's not" she said jumping again and gripping onto the sides of the whole she'd opened up at the top of the elevator "what's the point" she swung backwards a little bit, resting a foot on a ledge in the wall of the elevator.

"You know what? Life's not fair" he snapped at her "because it doesn't fit with the way you, Danni Humphrey, think things should be, but why are you always right?"

"I never said that" she argued annoyed with the whole situation. Her foot, the one on the ledge, slipped and she fell hard onto the floor of the elevator landing with a loud thud.

"Are you okay?" Sebastian asked hurrying to her side.

"Ow" she said sitting up, her ankle was really hurting and she was afraid to look at it as she feared there would be some visible injury "no, I don't think so, I think I broke my ankle"

"I'll take you to the hospital when we get out of here okay?" he told her "or I can call your dad and get him to take you if you'd liked"

She dragged herself along the floor until she was leaning up against the wall, sitting beside Sebastian.

"I forgive you for kissing George" he eventually said.

"And I forgive you" she replied "but…."

"We keep having the same fight" Sebastian finished "at Bart's brunch a year ago, at the wedding and now here, I can't change who I am Danni"

"Me neither" she said, she liked who she was and it wouldn't be right to change for anyone not even Sebastian Van Der Woodsen "so what happens now?"

There was a long tense, heavy silence before Sebastian finally spoke again.

"I don't really feel like talking" he said.

"Me neither" she replied, hooking her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulder.

…..

After the power came back on and Sebastian helped her out of the elevator and onto the couch before disappearing upstairs, telling her to call out to him if she needed any help, she hauled her leg up onto the couch as well and took a look at it deciding that yes her ankle was probably broken.

"Wow" she muttered to herself sarcastically "emotional _and _physical pain, oh joy"

She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialled her dad's number.

"Hey" he greeted "we're just about to go check on Jeremy, how's the party?"

"I uh never made it to the party" she told him "and what do you mean 'we're'?"

"I'll tell you all about it later" he replied "what you mean you never made it to the party?"

"The power went out after we got into the elevator" she explained "can you, uh, come pick me up from the Van Der Woodsen's?"

"Sure" he said "but why, did something happen?"

"Yeah and I'm pretty sure it requires a trip to the emergency room" she sadly said.

"Wait, what?" he asked, he sounded really worried, she probably could've phrased that better "are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah more or less" she told him "I just fell and I'm pretty sure I've broken my ankle"

"I'll be right there" he told her.

…..

After a trip to the hospital, where her ankle was confirmed by an x-ray to actually be broken and put in plaster which would have to stay on for about six weeks, she met up with Van in her bedroom. Just sitting there and talking with him would have to be the highlight of her night.

"Are you okay?" he asked her "apart from the whole ankle thing I mean?"

"Yeah, yeah" she told him "or at least I will be what about you?"

"I'm okay" he said, looking up at her with a small, sad smile.


	22. Chapter 22: The Ex-Files

**Chapter Twenty Two: **The Ex-Files

She wasn't looking forward to heading back to school, normally she didn't mind school depending on the day she actually enjoyed it, loved the thrill of knowledge, loved knowing that even though she didn't have a trust fund to get her places in life she had her brain but on this particular day she just wanted to pull the covers over her head and block out the world.

It really was a pity that her brother seemed to have made it his personal mission not to let this happen.

"Wake up!" he called from the doorway to her bedroom "come on, any later and you'll miss the bus"

"Bus?" she asked poking her head out of the bundle of covers she had drawn herself into. They hadn't caught the bus in a long time.

"And people say you're the smart one" Jeremy quipped "you're injured, it really wouldn't be wise to try and walk to school and it's not like we have a limo and a driver on call"

Danni groaned but sat up throwing off her blankets.

….

Breakfast at the Van Der Woodsen-Bass household involves a lot of food and talk about the recent honeymoon which involves Bart in a pair of flip-flops, an image Sebastian can't even begin to imagine.

"Are we expecting more people?" Erica asked as yet another plate was placed on the table.

"Well it is your first day of school and I was trying to be motherly" Lily said turning to look at Erica over the top of her glasses.

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up when you got home last night" Sebastian told his mother "I feel cheated"

"Last time you said violated" Charlotte cut in as she walking into the room, she paused standing beside Lily "welcome home-"

"If you say mom, I will kill you in your sleep" Sebastian warned.

"Decaf Sebastian" Charlotte shot back "I was going to say Mrs Bass"

"Thank you Charlotte" Lily said "ah, Bart had to leave for Beijing on business but he sends his best"

"As he's done since kindergarten" Charlotte coldly replied. Sebastian normally would feel sorry for her in this type of situation but this was Charlotte Bass, after everything she'd done to him he just couldn't find it in him to feel sorry for her.

"Hey maybe I should stay home from school today?" Sebastian suggested "we can got get lunch and catch up"

He really was just trying to avoid seeing Danielle, well actually not just Danni he was trying to avoid school in general. Everyone who read Gossip Girl knew about their break up as Gossip Girl had sent out a blast aptly titled 'broken bones and broken hearts'.

"Stay home?" Lily asked surprised "it's your first day"

"Sebastian and Danni broke up" Charlotte said smile back on her face "tragic, but not without an upside Humphrey was holding you back, you were born to be king and it's your year to rule, why fight it?"

"Because I don't want to" Sebastian told her "king's Blaine's whole thing"

The whole hierarchy system at St Judes was wrong in Sebastian opinion and he wanted no part in it besides Blaine was his best friend and if he even thought about taking Blaine's crown he would be on Blaine's hit list in seconds.

"You may feel different when the trumpets call" Charlotte replied before turning to Erica "forget the OJ, there's champagne in the limo"

And with that final note Charlotte picked up her bag and headed for the door.

"Ah she's just joking about the champagne" Erica told them as she grabbed her things and hurried to catch up with Charlotte "I think"

"So you broke up, I didn't even know you were back together" Lily commented now that she and Sebastian were alone.

"Yeah" Sebastian slowly replied unsure of what else to say.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He stood up, picking up his bag as he did so.

"I will be"

….

"It'll be fine right?" Danni asked her father as he drank his coffee and she finished off the rest of her breakfast "I mean we broke up amicably, no one cheated, no one screamed"

She was growing increasingly nervous about heading back to school. She had never really cared about beings friends with the kids at school but right now she wished she had then maybe she'd have somebody on her side. Sebastian could have all of Constance Billiard and St Judes as his own personal army if he wanted and all she had was her little brother who was currently distracted by the wrath of Blaine Waldorf's minions.

Van had been a good distraction in the last few days before school started, watching trashy movies with her and letting her rant and rave about everything and nothing for as long as she wanted but he couldn't go to school with her not matter how much she wished he could.

"You've got nothing to worry about" he assured her "of course I don't know what the post break up protocol is these days"

Neither does she actually, this being her first breakup and all.

"Oh you mean like he gets the courtyard Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and I get surprised visits with the library every other weekend" she sarcastically replied.

"Just be honest with where you're both at" Rufus told her "just do that and the deflection through sarcasm thing, you might want to put that on the backburner for a while"

"I-uh-I heard your friend sneaking out this morning" she said putting her fork down onto her plate "Claire is it? Come on high heels, concrete loft, not the blueprint for a stealthy getaway, sorry uh backburner now, how are things going anyway?"

"It's uh early" he said as he heard the door to Jeremy's room open "so let's just keep this between us okay?"

Jeremy would always be the baby of the family, the one that their father would go so far out of his way to protect. It was the way it had always been, he just assumed that Danni would be fine by herself, that she could make her own mistake and fix them all by herself, sometime throwing her a few pieces of sometimes helpful advice when she asked but Jeremy was the one that always needed to helped, to be shielded from the world.

It wasn't that he didn't care about her; she knew he cared but she really was sick of playing second fiddle to her little brother, sometime _she_ needed to be put first.

"Hey you excited for the big first day?" he asked him as Jeremy picked up an apple for breakfast.

"Dad how set are you on me going to school?" he asked rolling the apple between his hands.

"Pretty set" Rufus replied "why?"

"The first day of school is draft day, Blaine and his merry band of psychos are gonna be on a terror" Jeremy told him.

Danni had thought Constance was bad with the blatant worshipping of people like Natalie Archibald and Charlotte Bass but from what she'd heard St Judes was ten times worse and it was all thanks to Blaine Waldorf and the minions he'd recruited.

"Blaine categorise guys into two groups, people who have the victim to become little mini Blaine-ites become projects and total losers and guys who have the potential to threaten social order become victims " Jeremy explained "last year I was a project and we all know how that turned out" he paused taking in their expressions "what?"

"Ah, nothing" Danni told him "I'm totally following you"

Jeremy sighed and stood up, grabbing his bag and walking out the door.

"Did you understand any of that?" Rufus asked Danni as she made to follow her brother.

"I'm so glad I'm a girl" she replied shaking her head.

….

Sebastian paused in the hall when he spotted Danni out in the courtyard, hunched over a book. He took another step forward, trying to gather the courage he needed to go out there before chickening out, turning around and hiding around the corner.

"What is wrong with me?" he asked himself, running a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and walked away back down the hall and away from Danni.

…..

Danni soon found herself standing behind Jeremy's locker door and keeping an eye out for Sebastian, leaning forward and looking up and down the hall every few seconds.

"You'd be the worst PI ever" Jeremy commented sliding his Biology book onto the top shelf of his locker.

"Yeah well I don't want to caught off guard" she told him taking another look down the hall "I'm still surprised I haven't seen him"

"Hmm, especially since you're in the boys hallway looking for him" Jeremy said.

She laughed a little, leaning back against the lockers.

"Just be nice" Jeremy said "I'm sure this isn't easy for Sebastian either"

Jeremy and Danni feel silent as Blaine Waldorf's minion's walked through the hall, heads held high, not even sparing a glance in their direction choosing instead to look straight ahead.

"It-it was like I didn't even exist" Jeremy commented obviously surprised as the minion disappeared out of sight.

"Hmm, welcome to my world" she said "it's not so bad once you get used to birds flying at your head and doors never opening"

"Yeah" Jeremy replied with a nod and a smile "I guess it's better to be ignored then tortured right?"

"That's looking to the bright side" she said smiling back "you know what I should get going, good luck"

…

As she crossed through the door to the courtyard Danni accidently slammed her shoulder into another girl sending her off balance and causing her to knock into a guy, sending his books everywhere. She would've bent down to help him but was having a little trouble doing that these days because of the crutches.

"I'm sorry" she told him "I'm so sorry"

"It's fine" he said with a smile as he stood up again, sticking out his hand for her to shake "I'm Adam, I just transferred in"

"Oh, Danielle" she responded shaking his hand "I just…assaulted you, welcome"

…..

"I just hid there, how pathetic is that?" Sebastian complained to Blaine as the two of them walked through the hallway together, the same hallway that Sebastian had used to hide from Danni earlier.

"Breakups are easy" Blaine said "it's having to see them date someone else that's the hard thing, why do you think I rub it in Charlie's face every chance I get?"

"Your twisted version of foreplay?" Sebastian sarcastically replied

"Ignoring you" Blaine said.

…..

"Oh you're reading the new Harris novel" Danni commented noticing the familiar book on top of the stack of books in Adam's arms.

"Yeah, have you ever read him?" Adam asked.

"Read him? I've listened to him; I've fetched him his morning Irish coffee" Danni replied, taking in Adam's confused expression she added "I interned for him this summer"

…..

"The point is whoever dates first wins" Blaine told him, trust Blaine to see a break up as a chance for a competition "and since your ex is Danni Humphrey you win by default"

They stopped in the opening to the courtyard where Sebastian noticed that Blaine may just be wrong. Danni was standing with a guy that Sebastian assumed to be new as he'd never seen him before both looking at an open book, Danni pointing out something to the guy.

…

"His father's with the UN, he's travelled the world, won the short fiction award at his last school" Blaine said reading from one of the files he'd complied on the guys at St Judes this one happened to be on Adam Lasher the guy Danni had been talking to.

"Blaine, do you mind?" Sebastian asked looking up from the homework he'd was working on, he really didn't need to hear anymore about Adam.

"Sebastian this guy is Danni with junk; do you really want to see them read together all year?" he asked "move him to the front of the line"

"Look I appreciate it" Sebastian told him "but you're really making too big a deal out of this, so she was talking to someone, so what, it doesn't mean anything"

Blaine shot him a look that Sebastian knew meant he didn't believe him. Luckily the bell rang at this moment and Sebastian begun gathering his things for a quick getaway.

"I'm fine" he told them as he left.

…..

Sebastian found himself at the door to the courtyard again later that day when Danni appeared at another door on the opposite side of the courtyard. He couldn't avoid her anymore.

She waved at him; it seemed to be her go to when she was in an awkward situation. He half-heartedly waved back, barely lifting his hand. She begun crossing the courtyard heading towards him, he followed meeting her in the middle.

"Hey" she greeted "I just uh I waved"

"I was wondering when I'd bump into you" he said, putting on a smile.

"Ah so how is your first day going?" she asked "or something slightly less clichéd"

"Good" he replied "you know school's school"

"Wow" she said "this is…."

"Yeah I know" he admitted

"You know I've been really nervous about seeing you all week" she told him "in fact I still am"

"You were?" he asked "you are?"

"Why don't we fast forward through all this…weirdness and be friends?" she suggested. That actually sounded pretty great, he loved spending time with her, why did that have to stop just because they weren't dating anymore?

"That sounds so good" he told her "you know what, what are you doing for lunch today? Friends each lunch together, right?"

"Your right they do" she replied "but the thing is-"

"Danni" Adam cut in walking towards them "hey"

"Adam this is Sebastian" Danni introduced "Adam's new so I sort of already asked him if he wanted to…"

"Right, great" he said trying not to let her see how disappointed he was, he'd been really looking forward to spending some time with her again "well, uh, welcome, I hope you have…..I'll see you later"

He walked away, pausing to lean against the doorway next to Charlotte.

"Who would've thought that Humphrey would be the first to move on" she said "they're very sweet together, did I over hear something about a lunch?"

Sebastian just walked away; he really wasn't in the mood to deal with a Bass right now especially Charlotte.

….

Sebastian found Blaine and his minions circling Adam later that day, all of them kitted out in their field hockey uniforms, hockey stick that Blaine had probably just dropped on the guy's foot on the floor.

"Blaine" he said "what's going on?"

"This Adam, he'll be joining us for lunch" Blaine replied, with a smirk.

"Blaine" Sebastian said in a warning tone, he wanted the truth.

"It's for you own good" Blaine said whispering slightly "they were going to lunch together, lunch, as in the meal before dating, is that what you want?"

Sebastian didn't reply, Blaine in a way was right. He didn't want to see Danni dating anyone else.

"Exactly" Blaine said before turning to Adam "can you pick up my stick? I seem to have dropped it"

…..

Adam was late, so late that she was beginning to wonder if he was even coming at all. She took another look around the courtyard hoping to spot him but there was no sign of him.

"He's not coming" Charlotte said, Danni turned around as fast as she could on her crutches to find the other girl standing behind her, that seemingly ever present superior look plastered all over her face "Adam, I mean"

"What do you mean?" Danni asked her, confused as to what Charlotte had to do with all of this.

"He made some new friends; they extended an invitation to lunch" Charlotte said "hockey sticks were involved, you know how persuasive our boys can be"

"Sebastian wouldn't do that" she told her, she didn't want to believe it.

"Prove me wrong" Charlotte replied with a smirk on her face as she walked away. She was about to go and do just when her phone rang, Van's name flashing across the screen.

….

"This is wrong" Sebastian told Blaine glancing over at Adam who was sitting a few steps down from him and Blaine silently eating his lunch surrounded by Blaine's minions.

"Eating here?" Blaine asked, without waiting for an answer he continued "I know but the Met steps are totally under construction"

"No, I mean…." he said subtly pointing in Adam's direction.

"Adam?" Blaine whispered before turning to the other boy "Adam, we have a few ground rules here"

"For lunch?" Adam asked incredulously.

"Now that we're all friends" Blaine started "you should know that dating someone's ex is frowned upon, for instance Danni and Sebastian used to…."

"Oh" Adam was quick to say "I didn't know"

"Of course you didn't" Isaac said "that's what friends are for you"

"But now that you know" Blaine added "you understand…"

"Pretty sure" Adam replied.

"_Pretty _sure?" Blaine asked.

"Hey Adam!" Sebastian cut in before it turned into a full on argument "do you mind getting us some gelato, there's a cart right down the street, my treat"

He pulled out some cash and handed it to Adam who took it and dashed away obviously happy to get away.

"I don't like this" Sebastian told Blaine when Adam was out of earshot "I'm gonna go find Danni and apologize"

…..

Danni met up with Van in a small café not far from the school which required minimal effort for her to get back to the school on her crutches. Van handed her his phone not long after she arrived, the screen displaying a picture of two people locked in a deep kiss. She recognized both of them easily, one was Marci Beaton, the other her step-father the Duke.

"Oh god" she mumbled "why can't I look away?"

Van pointedly took the phone away from her and closed it.

"So what are you going to do about Nat?" Danni asked him "are you going to tell her?"

"How can I?" he asked "she would most likely freak out"

"There's no question about that" she said in agreement

"And I can't confront the Duke because the butler will remember me and-" Van continued

"And he'll drop the dime on the Captain" she finished for him "sorry it's the only chance I'll ever have to talk like that"

"How can I use this to get Nat off the hook?" he asked "what do I do?"

"Well, you're not going to like it" she told him "Blaine"

"Blaine?" he asked in surprise "I can't trust Blaine"

"Well maybe not" she agreed "but Google 'revenge' and you get Blaine , he helped me with George, he'll know what to do and when he sees this photo he'll be plenty motivated to do it"

"So I have to show this to Blaine?" Van asked.

"Yeah, I'd wear protective padding when you do but yeah" she told him "look Van I've got to go, there's this thing with Sebastian…"

"Are you okay?" he was quick to ask.

"Um…." She started, unsure how to answer his question "we'll see"

…

She makes it back to school with enough time to talk to Sebastian before her next to class. She doesn't even have to look for him as he is the one to find her as she walked through the door to the courtyard.

"Danni hey" he greeted as he walked up to her "I want to apologize"

"And that answers my question" Danni said, surprisingly it seemed that Charlotte Bass had been telling the truth.

"Look Blaine invited him to lunch, not me" he tried to explain.

"But you were there?" she asked "at lunch?"

"Yeah" he admitted "but then I left and I told Blaine to stop"

"So you were a part of it and _then _you had second thoughts?" she asked.

"Danni, I'm trying to apologize" he told her.

"Really?" she asked "because it sounds like you're just trying to rationalise, it's just that we knew this would be awkward okay? I just assumed that it would be more of a sad awkward and not this competitive awkward, I didn't think you'd enlist back up"

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked sounding offended.

"Well you tell me?" she asked "if I have lunch with someone tomorrow are Blaine's minions going to break his legs?"

"Just so you know" he replied "if this were a competition I wouldn't need Blaine and his posse to win"

And with that final note he stalked away, arms crossed over his chest leaving Danni with a feeling that if they didn't fix things soon, things were going to end up really, really bad for _her. _

"Hey" Adam said from behind her. Apparently not all the cards were in Sebastian's favour, she could still fight back. Not that she had wanted this to turn into a fight or competition but if Sebastian thought he was so much better than her then she could at least show him that he was wrong.

"Hey" she greeted "aren't you supposed to not be talking to me or you'll be shunned or something?"

"I don't like bullies" he told her "so my question, what are we doing tonight?"

…..

They ended up in some restaurant that's populated by Sebastian's crowd, it's not really the type of place she'd been seen in but Adam insists that it'll be great.

"Are you sure you want to eat here?" she asked him as they walked in.

"Yeah, everybody eats here" Adam says as he helps her through the crowd "come on Danni, it's time to send a message"

….

Jeremy wakes her up the next morning by hitting her in the face with a pillow. It such a typical thing for him to do that she's not even surprised. Annoyed yes but definitely not surprised.

"What were you thinking?" he snapped at her.

"I was sleeping" she groaned sitting up and running a hand through her hair.

"I mean you and that guy last night" he said "it's on Gossip Girl"

"Adam, his names Adam" she said.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" he asked choosing to ignore her completely "not only are you committing social suicide, it's mean, do you really think Sebastian deserves to be treated like that?"

It was nice at first but she's getting really tired of her brother being so involved with her relationship.

"Hey he started!" she argued "with his little high school mafia"

"Oh forget about them" he huffed "go talk to him, apologize before it's too late"

He threw the pillow at her one more time before stalking out of her room and back into his.

….

She finds herself scoping out the boys hallway for Sebastian for the second time in as many days. This time she's trying to be noticed by him instead of trying to hide out with Jeremy. Sebastian spots her first and doesn't look happy at all to see her.

"So is this how you want to handle it?" he asked anger evident in his voice "using another guy to embarrass me in front of my friends? Is that your idea of sending a message?"

"Well uh that phrase might've been used but uh-" she said.

"I can't believe _you _would do that" he says as he opens his locker.

"I was wrong, I'm sorry" she replied. She really was. She hadn't meant to hurt him.

"Yes you were" he snapped "I would _never _try to humiliate you like that"

"No" she agreed "but you would try to coerce a guy not to go out with me in the first place"

He sighed, realising that she had a point.

"Fine, the three of us tonight" he said

"W-what?" she asked, that was definitely not what she'd been expecting.

"Look you're going to date other people, and I'm going to date other people" he said "we can either let everyone else tell us that we should be jealous and compete or we could just deal with it and try to preserve at least a little of our friendship"

"So, you, me and Adam are having a date?" she asked. This whole situation just seem really strange to her.

"I'd rather you not put it that way but yes" he said as he closed his locker door "8 o'clock"

…..

The night on their 'date' Adam and Danni easily slipped into a conversation about authors and books they've read which left Sebastian on the outer. He wasn't a big reader like Danni and apparently Adam.

"You know what I'm going to get another round" he told them sliding out of his seat and heading for the bar. After he'd ordered his drink, switching from soda to alcohol, Penn and Isaac appeared from behind him he should've guessed some of Blaine's 'friends' would be here tonight.

"We may have something that will cheer you up" Isaac said with a smile.

"Several something's actually" Penn added. They stepped apart to reveal a group of attractive girls gathered around a table behind them.

"Sebastian this is Jen, captain of the Dalton girls lacrosse team" Penn introduced as a few of them begun walking over, the one Penn had been talking about, Jen, took lead. She was beautiful, with dark perfectly curled hair and chocolate brown eyes and even though she seemed like she knew how beautiful she was and showed this in a rather obnoxious way she was just the type of girl that Sebastian would've gone for in the past.

….

He brings Jen back to their table where she proceeds to bore them all to tears with a story about lacrosse. Sebastian pretends to enjoy the story only so he can feel like he's in on something that Danni and Adam are not.

"Wow that was amazing" Sebastian told her after she finally finished her story.

"Yeah amazing" Danni sarcastically added.

"Danni's not a big sports girl" Sebastian told Jen.

"I can see that" Jen added and now Danni was one hundred precent sure they were insulting him.

"Yeah she likes poets" Sebastian chimed in, it was said rather harshly and was obviously meant to be another insult.

"I'm going to use the men's room" Adam said. Danni nodded sliding out of her seat so Adam could get out of the booth they were sitting in.

"You know what?" Sebastian asked once the two of them were both standing "I need another drink"

He stood up as well and crossed the room heading for the bar. When Adam and Sebastian had both left, Jen leaned forward towards Danni.

"Smoking hot" she said in reference to Sebastian.

"Excuse me" Danni replied sliding out of the booth and joining Sebastian at the bar.

"So is this your great peace plan?" she asked him "you invite me out so you can rub lacrosse girl in my face?"

"I didn't plan this" he told her.

"Yeah uh-huh I'm sure" she sarcastically replied.

"Well I thought it was okay that we date other people?" Sebastian shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You sure picked a winner there" Danni remarked.

"Well she's fun, non-neurotic" Sebastian said "I thought that would be a nice change"

"That's classy" Danni sarcastically told him, he had just seemed to be on a roll with the insults tonight and she actually was beginning to feel hurt "thank you"

"Classy?" he asked "like you asking another guy out our first day back at school?"

"We were broken up!" she argued.

"So what" he snapped "that doesn't mean I stopped loving you, just because we broke up doesn't mean I can just turn it off like that"

He turned back to the bar, away from her. She stared at his back in silence for a few moments as she had no idea what to say at all. She hesitantly reached out a hand to touch his arm but stopped before she did.

"Alright" she said "well then maybe we should stay away from each other for a while"

He was silent for a few moments before turning back to her crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, yeah" he agreed "you and Adam should probably go"

"Are you ordering me to leave?" she asked in surprise. This was a side of Sebastian she'd never seen before and never wanted to see again.

"Consider it a suggestion" he coldly replied "why should I go Danni? These are my friends here and it's not exactly you're kind of place"

"Oh leaving so soon?" Charlotte asked appearing from behind her barely five seconds after Sebastian had stomped away to the other side of the bar, making Danni jump.

"God, you should wear a bell" Danni said.

"Kinky" Charlotte quipped "stay, you're about to see the real Sebastian"

She looked over at Sebastian who was sipping his drink and looking rather bored by his surroundings.

"I've seen enough" she told her as she begun to walk away.

…

Turns out Charlotte was right, the real or at least the old Sebastian resurfaces in the form of a Nair martini thrown at the back of Adam's head as he walked back from the bathroom which caused clumps of his hair to fall out. Although it was Penn that had thrown it she had a feeling Sebastian had something to do with it.

She ran to catch up with him upon seeing this as he ran out of there.

"Adam, Adam wait!" she called.

"No Danni!" he snapped when she caught up to him "just leave me alone"

He turned away from her and hurriedly left.

"Danni!" Sebastian said walking up to her "I'm so sorry, is he okay?"

"No, don't" she told him, she didn't want to hear it. Did he just invite them out to humiliate her and Adam? She didn't want to believe that he could be so cruel but all the evidence pointed in his direction.

"I didn't have anything to do with this" he argued "it just happened"

"That's the Sebastian Van Der Woodsen mantra isn't it?" she snapped "no fault, no responsibility, things just happen, you know you used to tell me that you were afraid that people couldn't see the real you, well maybe you're the one who can't see yourself, from where I'm standing _this _is who you are"

"Is that what you think of me?" he asked a sad expression on his face.

"Yeah it is" she admitted "at least they own up to it"

She pointed towards Isaac and Penn who were standing not far behind Sebastian; both of them looked away when she pointed at them.

"Maybe it's time you did too" she added before hobbling away.

A hurt Sebastian turned to Isaac and Penn.

"From now on" he said "everything goes through me"


	23. Chapter 23: The Sebastian Also Rises

**So I cut out the fashion show story line with Serena and Blair because I just couldn't make it work, sorry, also sorry as well for the wait.**

**Chapter Twenty Three: **The Sebastian Also Rises

After the whole disaster with Sebastian and Adam things seemed to be looking up for Danni, she'd gone back to being invisible girl which she actually kind of liked, there hadn't even be any mention of her on Gossip Girl since a few nights after her fight with Sebastian, and her cast had been taken off and although her ankle still wasn't back to a hundred precent yet it was great to be able to walk without the aid of crutches.

She walked to school with Jeremy that morning, it was a nice morning that kind of warm sunshine that made you want to laze around outside.

She hadn't spent much time with her brother lately and she had begun to miss him. It was nice to spend time with him again, she loved the fact that they could slip into their own little world when it was just the two of them, when there was no Blaine or Sebastian or minions or futures to worry about.

"Ah school" she commented as they reached the front gates "another day of reading, writing and aristocrats"

"You back to invisible girl?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah" she replied "invisible suits me, I can go to school un-showered, I could wear my pyjamas, nobody cares and now I have all the time in the world to focus on my Yale application so…."

"Don't you mean Dartmouth?" Jeremy asked

Dartmouth had been her dream school for many years but after doing some more research into both Dartmouth and Yale she's found that Yale was a much better fit for her.

"Yeah, well it seems that Dartmouth's whole English department was poached by Yale" she told him.

"Wow" he commented "when's that application due?"

"Monday, Noah Shapiro's helping me choose what stories to submit" she told him.

"Wait, what happened to that Jeremiah Harris guy?" he asked.

"Oh, well uh after he fired me I went ahead and sent my story to Shapiro anyway and he loved it" she said.

"That's great" Jeremy told her, a sincere smile on his face that let her know that he was genuinely happy for her "why haven't you told me any of this?"

"I've barely seen you" she pointed out "you're always off at your internship"

She was glad at least one Humphrey was able to avoid being fired from an internship.

"Hey, you have French first period" Danni reminded him as they paused outside the gates "aren't you going to be late?"

"Oh, we have a sub" he told her "and he always starts late so…."

"Okay" she said "I'm really late for Italian so, _ciao_"

…..

"Hey mom" Sebastian greeted as he headed down the stairs. They'd moved out of the Palace and back into their old penthouse and already their mother was set on redecorating, starting with art.

"Oh, it's wonderful" Lily was saying, hand placed over her heart.

"Huh?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm talking about the art" Lily told him "isn't it just breathtaking"

Sebastian isn't sure what to say. He doesn't really understand art, not like his mother or Danni's family.

"Any museum would be thrilled" Lily's art consultant said, Sebastian wasn't sure what her name was. They'd only met a few times.

"Let's hope Bart is when he gets back from Luxemburg this week" Lily said with a small laugh.

"It's really great mom" Sebastian assured her "your art consultant has exquisite taste"

"You were in late last night" Lily commented as they walked towards the door together.

"Oh yeah I was out with Poppy" he told her "don't worry, no alcohol was involved, just soda"

"Uh, Poppy Lifton the socialite?" the art consultant asked from behind the mother and son.

"Ah yes, they met at a charity affair last week and they've been attached at the hip ever since" Lily told her.

So close that Lily had asked if the two of them were dating a few days earlier. Sebastian immediately told her that no they weren't and he had no interest in Poppy that way. He really wasn't ready to jump into another relationship at the moment.

…..

"Let me blunt Humphrey" Noah Shapiro says when she meets with him that afternoon dropping her folder of stories onto his desk "these stories are no good"

That wasn't what she was expecting. She didn't go in there thinking that he'd think she was some kind of genius and fall at her feet but she was expecting something more than 'no good' after all he'd said he liked her other story.

"But my, uh, my other story you uh, you said" she said, stumbling over her words. God, she really had to work on the whole talking to people thing.

"That wasn't bad but these" he paused waving a hand in the general direction of her stories "are just more of the same, you sent me five stories all about a sheltered young girl with boy troubles who lives in Brooklyn with her daddy, you think _that's_ going to knock the Yale English department of their tenured asses?"

"I-I uh thought a writer was supposed to write what she knows, _this_ is what I know" she told him.

"Then learn something new" Shapiro quickly replied "get out of your comfort zone, a cardinal rule of writing, if your works too safe do something dangerous"

"I uh, I wouldn't know where to begin" she said. She wasn't a dangerous person, she liked her comfort zone, it was safe. She liked that, she really liked feeling safe.

"Well then find someone who does" Shapiro told her "and then get back to me"

…

She decided that Charlotte was the best person to talk to if she wanted to get out of her comfort zone. After all nothing Charlotte ever did could be really be described as _safe_.

"It's like the plague, only instead of vermin on my doorstep I get a human being" Charlotte said when she saw her "beat it Humphrey, my brother doesn't dig stalkers"

"Actually as strange as it sounds I'm here to see you" Danni told her "I know we don't like each other, you think I'm a boring, sheltered nobody"

"I don't think of you" Charlotte quickly retorted.

"Oh! Of course you don't" Danni said. She was beginning to think this whole idea was incredibly stupid; actually she'd begun to think that a few minutes after she had the idea.

"But I've been thinking of me" Danni continued "and I've realised that I need to get out of my comfort zone, I need to experience new things"

"Are you gay?" Charlotte asked, a dead serious expression crossing her face.

"Now that _would _be out of my comfort zone" Danni replied "but no, I just need to get out Brooklyn for one night, I'd like to experience the world of Chuck Bass"

"You're lucky I'm bored" Charlotte said a few moments later.

"Is that a yes?" Danni asked in surprise. She really didn't expect for her to say yes.

"Get in before I change my mind" Charlotte said turning towards the elevator that Danni had not long ago stepped out of.

….

They end up in some bar that Danni's never heard of before but Charlie obviously frequents. As soon as she sits down Charlie signals to the bartender and a tray of shots are placed in the middle of the table. Danni is actually sort of impressed.

"Wow" she said "wow, you just signal to the bartender and she sends over shots, what do you do if want a martini? Is there some kind of insider hand signal for the drunken elite?"

"Shut up Humphrey" Charlotte says sliding the tray towards Danni, she already looks bored. But then again Charlie almost always looks like that. Danni carefully picked a glass up and put it in front of her before sliding it back in Charlotte's direction who immediately pushed it back towards Danni.

"I'm good with just one" Danni told her. She wasn't a drinker, didn't drink at all really.

"You're either in for the full ride" Charlotte said "or you're out, what's it going to be?"

She pauses for a moment to think, running through multiple scenarios in her head. None of them look particularly pleasant but in the midst of all the possible disasters there's the chance to get a few steps closer to her dream.

"Fine, pass me the shots" she told the other girl.

"The liquors just a chaser" Charlotte informed her leaning forwards and opening up one of her hands. On her palm sat two blue pills.

"What are they?" Danni asked. She suddenly felt like her comfort zone was on the other side of the world from where she was now.

"That doesn't matter" Charlotte said "you either go down the rabbit hole or out the door"

Danni looked towards the door before looking back down at the pills in Charlotte's hand. The whole point of this night was to step out of her comfort zone and for once Charlotte was right if she was going to do this she had to go all in.

She picked up one of the pills and popped it into her mouth before picking up her shot and downing it.

…..

That night is filled with increasingly dangerous and illicit activities, things like secret sex clubs and illegal substances. She's rambling all about afterwards in the back of Charlotte's limo, Charlotte just looks bored. Danni's starting to wonder if that's the only expression she has.

The limo stopped suddenly and Danni turned to look out the window.

"Wait this isn't Brooklyn" she said turning back to Charlotte "I-I thought you were taking me home?"

"Get out" Charlotte coldly replied "tonight was nothing; you're just a drunken idiot, my amusement for the night"

"C-can I at least have my shoes?" she asked nodding towards her shoes that she didn't really remember taking off. They were on the floor of the limo, near Charlotte's feet.

She ends the night feeling miserable, down a pair of shoes and forced to walk home.

'Well at least I did something dangerous' she thought as she crawled into her bed

…..

She's sure Shapiro thinks she's the most painfully boring, pathetic person he's ever met. He reads her story based on the previous night's events and basically tells her nobody's going to want to read a story from her point of view and that she should focus on the oh-so-subtly named 'Charlie Trout' because she's 'complex and interesting'.

"Dig beneath the surface" he tells her "get into Charlie Trout's head, find the characters humanity"

"That might be difficult" she replied. If Charlotte even had any humanity there was no way she'd show it to Danielle Humphrey.

"We all have a secret" Shapiro said "a writer's best tool is the ability to draw out a subjects secret and use it"

"Okay, okay" she said "so I go back out there make her trust me and find out her secret?"

"Be ruthless" Shapiro said "and bring me back a story with teeth"

It was like there was a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, the good side and the bad side fighting it out and for the first time in a long time she let the bad side win.

…

She finds Charlotte in the same bar she was in the previous night. She was sitting at a table by herself, phone pressed to her ear and looking strangely sad. She stood awkwardly behind Charlotte for a few moments until she hung up the phone before moving into the only other seat at the small table, directly across from the other girl.

"So the other night" she started lifting up her head to look at Charlotte "was that really the best you got?"

"Stick around" Charlotte said

…..

"So what's it really like to be Charlotte Bass?" Danni asked "were you a happy kid?"

She wasn't sure how to go about getting Charlotte to tell her anything but obviously by the look the other girl was giving her over the top of the glass

So, uh, when did you start drinking in bars alone?" she tried again.

"20 questions is boring me" Charlotte replied "and I've just spotted something far more interesting"

She stood up and moved towards to talk to an attractive man sitting alone at the bar. Danni groaned and ran a hand over her face, she was really bad at this, really bad at talking to people like Charlotte in general really. Maybe she should just turn back now? Run far away and keep whatever shred of dignity she had left.

There was a sudden outburst from behind Danni at the bar; a woman with wild curly blonde hair that Danni assumed was the attractive man's girlfriend was screaming at Charlie, an accusing finger pointed at her.

"Have some class!" the blonde yelled.

"Class?" Charlotte replied "says the girl dressed like a call-girl"

The girl moved quickly towards Charlotte, ready for a fight. Danni jumped into action, not really sure why, and jumped in between the two girls.

"Calm down" she told the blonde who didn't appear to be listening. She lunged forward and Danni pushed her away, a little harder then she had intended as the blonde fell hard to the ground and most of the people in the bar turned to look at them.

…..

"Jail!" she exclaimed throwing up her hands as she stood behind the bars of their small cell "brawling in public, yeah I hear Yale's looking to recruit more bar fighters"

She let out a groan, running a hand through her hair, before moving to sit on the small bench fastened to the back wall.

"For what it's worth Humphrey you had my back" Charlotte spoke up from the other bench against the adjacent wall "I'd never thought I'd say this but thanks"

Charlotte smiled at her. It was a real, genuine smile, one that reached her eyes. It was something that Danni didn't expect to see and gave her insight into why people like Nat stuck by her side. It still didn't make up for dragging her into all of this, but it was actually quite nice.

"Hmmm, college versus Chuck Bass's gratitude seems like a fair trade" she sarcastically replied. God, why in the world did she think any of this was a good idea.

"Oh god, my dad's going to kill me" Danni said as she came to the sudden realisation.

"Consider yourself lucky" Charlotte said, her face suddenly cold again.

"Lucky?" Danni asked incredulously "how is it lucky that my own father's going to murder me?"

"My father doesn't care enough to get angry" Charlotte solemnly replied. Danni actually felt sorry for the girl.

"He expects this" Charlotte continued "he'll be annoyed that he'll have to call his lawyer, but other than that…"

"Has he always been like that?" Danni asked.

"Since the day I was born" she coldly answered.

"That's crazy" Danni replied in disbelief "even Bart Bass can't hate babies, it's in our DNA, I think Disney did a study"

"He hated me" Charlotte simply said.

"That doesn't make sense" Danni said. The pieces didn't fit right in her mind, she didn't understand how Bart Bass could hate his own daughter or at least give Charlotte the impression that he did.

"It does if his beloved wife died giving birth to me" Charlotte said, she was staring at the wall in front of her refusing to move her head. Danni was unsure what to say in reply, Charlotte didn't seem cold or unemotional anymore, long gone was that smile that Danni had been surprised to see. She sounded sad, a strange kind of sad, a distant kind of sad really like she was used to the pain and had somehow manage to dull it but couldn't quite manage to block it out completely.

"That…" Danni paused unsure if she should continue "that wasn't your fault"

"Tell him that" Charlie said "sometimes I swear he thinks I killed her, who knows maybe I did"

"Charlotte Bass?" a voice called as an officer in uniform walked up to the bars, key in hand "your lawyer call, your being released"

She stood slowly, straightening dress.

"I'll –uh- see if I can get my lawyer to release you into his custody" Charlotte told her "if they haven't reached your dad yet they might not have to"

Danni nodded at her, the other girl held out her hand.

"Thanks" Danni told her as she shook it. Charlotte looked at her once more before walking out of the cell. The office closed the door again and locked Danni in.

…

Some new cell mates had joined her after Charlotte left, two large woman in little clothing who kept staring at her and were frankly scaring her.

Danni was standing in front of the bars again when Charlotte appeared again this time on the other side of the bars. She stormed towards her looking furious.

"You were writing about me?" she hissed, Danni's story with Shapiro's note in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" Danni asked.

"Watch your back" Charlotte warned "_no one_ used Chuck Bass, I hope you enjoy your stay here, I hope they make a Humphrey sandwich" she turned to leave pausing after stepping away from the bars, pointing a finger at Danni, bawling up the story "that story I told you, about my mother? I lied. My mother died in a plane crash in the Andes when I was six"

….

She was in that cell for a little while longer before she could call Shapiro to come get her, she didn't really have anywhere else to turn. It wasn't like she could tell her father about any of this and her mother was all the way over in Hudson. Thankfully Shapiro didn't seem angry at being woken up to come collect her, he actually seemed very proud.

"When I got a call in the middle of the night I was expecting a booty call from Lucy the stewardess not a call from lock-up" he told her as they stepped outside.

"Yeah I'm sorry about this" she told him, really she was, sorry about the whole night really "I didn't have anywhere else to turn really"

"Police stations at midnight make me nostalgic for my youth" he said "so turns out that girl you hit dropped the charges"

"Oh good, that's a relief" she said. At least there was one good thing about this night, she really didn't want to add assault charges to her list of bad things, the list already contained 'Charlotte Bass vowing revenge, her growing self-hatred for her manipulation, getting involved in a bar fight, guilt about said fight, the fact she'd probably have to explain to her father where the hell she'd been and that there was no way in hell she was getting those shoes back now'.

"I'm proud of you Humphrey" Shapiro told her "you really shook it up"

Yeah and she hated herself for it.

"Did you get Charlie Trout's secret in the process?" he asked.

"Yeah" she told him "she thinks she killed her mother"

"You're gonna have a hell of a story" Shapiro excitedly told her.

"Ah yeah, I'm not going to use it" she told him coming to a stop in front of him.

"What do you mean?" he asked in surprise.

"Well if I have to exploit people to be a good writer then maybe I'm not a good writer, I'd rather be safe then use people for art" she told him.

"Harris was right when he cut your loose" Shapiro shot back "you'll always be second rate"

Surprisingly she was fine with that, she didn't want to turn into someone like Harris or Shapiro, she didn't want to have to deal with hurting people like she'd done tonight. This person, the one she'd been trying to be around Charlotte, it just wasn't her.

"Maybe, but I have an idea for a new story" she replied "it's about an egomaniacal, washed up writer who manipulates his protégé, it's a classic tale of disillusionment"

"Good luck with that" Shapiro sarcastically replied "I'll look out for it in readers digest, I can used it to prop up my Pulitzers"


End file.
